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GETTING  TOGETHEE  WITH 
LATIN  AMERICA 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE 
WEST  INDIES 

A  Guide  Book,  History,  and  General  Descrip- 
tion in  One. 

Profusely  Illustrated,  with  Maps,  a  Glossary, 
and  a  Compendium  of  Useful  Information. 

Net  $3.00 

THE  TRAIL  OF  THE 
CLOVEN  FOOT 

A  thoroughly  good  story  of  adventure,  full  of 
useful  information. 

Illustrated  by  Hugh  Spencer  from  photographs 
made  by  the  author. 

Net  $1.60 


NEW  YORK 

E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 

681  Fifth  Avenue 


GETTING  TOGETHER  WITH 
LATIN  AMERICA 


BY 

A.  HYATT  VERRILL 

author  of 

"The  Book  of  the  West  Indies" 
"The  Tbail  of  the  Cloven  Foot,"  etc 


,  •   •  •   > 


New  York 

E.  P.  DUTTON  &  COMPANY 

681  Fifth  Avenue 


H^ 


30^ 


^-.^ 


D 


Copyright,  1918 
By  E:  p.  button  &  COMPANY 


All  Rights  Reserved 


t   <   c 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I 1 

II 13 

III 28 

IV 56 

V 68 

VI 95 

VII 108 

Appendix      .       .       .       ; 125 

Argentine  Republic 125 

Bolivia 130 

Brazil 136 

British  Guiana  (Demerara) 145 

Chile .       -  150 

Colombia 153 

Costa  Rica 159 

Cuba 163 

Dominican  Republic 168 

Dutch  Guiana  (Surinam) 171 

Ecuador 174 

French  Guiana  (Cayenne) 180 

Guatemala 182 

Haiti .185 

Honduras 187 

Mexico 189 

Nicaragua 193 

Panama 197 

Paraguay 201 

Peru 205 

Salvador 209 

Uruguay 211 

Venezuela 216 


INTRODUCTION 

In  preparing  this  book  no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  go  into  all  the  details  of  Latin  Ameri- 
can trade,  and  other  conditions,  or  to  prepare 
a  complete  and  analytical  treatise  on  onr  past, 
present  and  future  relations  with  the  republics 
of  South  and  Central  America.  To  do  that 
would  require  not  one,  but  many,  volumes, 
each  far  more  comprehensive  than  the  present 
work,  for  an  entire  book  might  be  devoted  to 
the  business  conditions  in  each  republic.  Al- 
though conditions,  customs  and  affairs  diifer 
greatly  in  the  various  countries  of  Latin 
America,  yet  the  same  generalities  prevail,  with 
but  few  exceptions,  and  I  have  endeavored  to 
treat  of  matters  in  a  broad  and  comprehensive 
manner  Tvithout  the  finer  distinctions  which 
would  relate  to  individual  republics. 

Moreover,  there  are  certain  facts,  and  many 
conditions,  existent  in  Latin  America,  and  in 
our  relation  to  Latin  America,  which  should 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

be  brought  to  the  public  notice,  and  especially 
to  those  who  desire  to  further  our  business  and 
our  friendship  with  the  Latin  Americans,  and 
which  are,  I  find,  largely  unknown,  or  at  least, 
unappreciated.  It  is  to  present  these  matters 
in  a  concise,  succinct,  concrete  form  that  this 
book  has  been  written,  and  it  has  purposely 
been  condensed  as  much  as  possible  so  that  the 
reader  may  not  have  to  wade  through  masses 
of  statistical  tables  and  historical  data  in  order 
to  discover  w^hy  things  are  as  they  are,  and 
what  we  should  strive  to  do  in  order  to  improve 
matters. 

No  doubt  I  will  be  accused  of  being  hyper- 
critical of  ourselves  and  our  attitude  and  of  be- 
ing pro-Latin  American.  I  have  tried  to  be  as 
impartial  and  as  fair  as  possible;  but,  to  teU 
the  truth,  I  find  far  more  to  criticize  in  our  atti- 
tude towards  the  Latin  Americans  than  in  their 
attitude  towards  us.  There  is  much  that  might 
be  criticized  in  Latin  America;  much  that  the 
Latin  Americans  might  do  to  further  mutual 
good  feeling  and  confidence ;  but  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  this  book  is  written  primarily  for 
North  Americans  and  that,  under  these  cir- 


INTRODUCTION  vll 

cumstanees,  our  own  shortcomings  and  a  little 
wholesome  advice  as  to  what  we  should  do,  are 
of  far  more  importance  to  us  than  the  faults 
and  failings  of  our  southern  neighbors. 

Doubtless  I  am  somewhat  pro-Latin  Ameri- 
can for  I  have  lived  long  among  the  Latin 
Americans  and  have  mingled  freely  with  all 
classes  and  I  have  invariably  found  them  most 
courteous  and  friendly;  most  hospitable  and 
trustworthy,  and  while  I  have  not  been  blinded 
to  their  faults,  yet,  on  the  whole,  I  have  found 
them  most  delightful.  I  am  thoroughly  in 
sympathy  with  them  and  I  have  yet  to  find 
the  North  American  who  has  lived  among 
them,  w^ho  has  familiarized  himself  with  their 
language,  customs,  history  and  viewpoint,  and 
who  has  associated  with  them  with  an  open, 
unprejudiced  mind,  who  did  not  feel  as  I  do. 
In  addition,  by  living  among  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans one  can  see  our  own  faults  and  shortcom- 
ings far  more  clearly  than  when  judging  every- 
thing from  our  own  viewpoint. 

As  I  have  tried  to  make  clear  in  the  follow- 
ing pages,  our  attitude  towards  Latin  America 
has  always  been  one  sided  and  we  have  ever 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

tried  to  force  tliem  to  our  ways  and  have  never 
seriously  endeavored  to  propitiate  them,  and 
yet,  the  advantages  to  be  derived  by  us  are  far 
greater  than  they  will  derive  from  us.  More- 
over, in  the  past,  a  great  many  of  our  business 
men  have  found  it  *^too  much  trouble''  to 
bother  about  the  Latin  American  trade,  ap- 
parently overlooking  the  fact  that  anything 
worth  while  requires  a  vast  amount  of  work 
and  trouble. 

But  the  war,  which  will  alter  the  face  of 
Europe,  is  also  bound  to  revolutionize  condi- 
tions in  Latin  America  and  it  has  already 
bound  the  three  Americas  with  closer  ties  and 
with  more  common  interests  than  ever  before. 
Let  us  hope,  that  with  the  dawn  of  peace, 
these  bonds  may  be  still  further  cemented  by 
an  ever-increasing  friendship,  respect,  con- 
fidence and  commerce  between  our  southern 
neighbors  and  ourselves. 

But  do  not  let  us  delude  ourselves  with  the 
idea  that  we  are  going  to  have  an  easy  row  to 
hoe;  that  Germany's  commerce  and  trade  with 
South  America  is  at  an  end,  or  that  the  close 
of  the  war  will  find  us  with  a  free  hand  and 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

an  open  field  in  Latin  America.  Competition 
will  be  far  greater  than  ever  before  in  Latin 
America  and  only  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
present  conditions,  by  proving  by  word  and 
deed  that  we  are  the  best  friends  the  Latin 
Americans  have,  by  convincing  them  that  we 
are  sincere  in  our  expressed  sentiments  for  an 
enduring  Pan-Americanism  and  that  we  are 
allies  in  more  than  name  only,  can  we  hope  to 
win  the  commercial  war  which  w^e  must  wage 
in  order  to  secure  and  hold  our  prestige  in 
Latin  America  and  reap  the  benefits  which 
should  be  ours. 

In  order  to  provide  an  easy  means  of  refer- 
ence, and  to  furnish  my  readers  with  the  more 
salient  facts  regarding  the  various  Latin 
American  republics,  I  have  added  the  Ap- 
pendix, wherein  will  be  found  an  alphabetically 
arranged  list  of  all  the  Central  and  South 
American  countries,  and  the  insular  republics 
as  well,  with  their  areas,  populations,  products 
and  other  data  which  should  be  of  value  and 
interest  to  everyone  interested  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica or  its  trade.  Although  not  properly  in- 
cluded among  the  Latin  American  countries 


X  INTRODUCTION 

yet  tlie  Guianas  are  so  closely  identified  with 
them,  and,  moreover,  present  such  wonderful 
opportunities  for  development,  trade  and  busi- 
ness, that  I  have  embodied  them  in  the  Ap- 
pendix. No  doubt,  errors  may  be  found  in  the 
various  statements  and  statistics  given  in  con- 
nection with  the  various  countries,  for  in  many 
cases  no  definite  official  figures  are  available; 
in  other  cases  the  population  and  other  statis- 
tics are  merely  estimated,  and  in  the  remain- 
ing instances  the  most  recent  obtainable  figures 
are  several  years  old.  Moreover,  great  changes 
have  taken  place  in  Latin  America  since  the 
war;  certain  exports  have  fallen  oif;  others 
have  greatly  increased ;  great  development  has 
taken  place  in  certain  lines  and  values  of  vari- 
ous commodities  and  products  have  advanced 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  But  on  the  whole,  the 
figures  and  the  data  given  will  be  found  prac- 
tically correct  and  they,  at  least,  will  serve  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  comparative  sizes,  prod- 
ucts, resources,  populations  and  other  impor- 
tant details  of  the  Latin  American  countries 
and  which  are  all  too  little  known  to  the 
average  man. 


GETTING  TOGETHER  WITH 
LATIN  AMERICA 


GETTING    TOGETHER 
WITH  LATIN   AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard 
to  improving  our  relations  with  Latin  America 
and  securing  a  greater  portion  of  South 
American  trade  and  since  the  outbrealv  of  the 
European  war,  and  more  especially  since  our 
entry  into  the  conflict  and  the  declarations 
of  war  by  various  Latin  American  republics, 
our  opportunities  have  been  marvelously  in- 
creased and  have  been  more  insistently  urged 
than  ever  before.  And  yet,  on  the  whole,  w;e 
haye_  accomplished  little,  and  despite  the  ex- 
ceptional chances  offered  us,  we  are  still  far 
behind  hand  in  cementing  enduring  friendships 
with  our  southern  neighbors  and  in  securing 
their  lasting  trade. 


2  GETTING  TOGETHER 

To  be  sure,  a  certain  number  of  manufac- 
turers and  exporters  have  established  lucrative 
businesses  in  Latin  America  and  a  far  larger 
portion  of  South  American  purchases  have 
been  made  in  the  United  States  than  before 
the  war,  but,  as  a  rule,  this  has  been  through 
necessity  rather  than  through  choice  or  any 
effort  on  our  part  and  much  of  the  existing 
commerce  will  revert  to  Europe  eventually, 
unless  we  overcome  our  apathy  and  take  the 
matter  seriously  into  consideration. 

Why  these  conditions  obtain  is  a  rather  diffi- 
cult question  to  answer  for  there  are  a  multi- 
tude of  factors  entering  into  it.  But  in  the 
following  pages  I  shall  endeavor  to  point  out 
our  shortcomings  and  their  causes,  as  well  as 
to  suggest  ways  and  means  for  overcoming 
them  and,  in  addition,  I  will  try  to  sketch  con- 
ditions in  Latin  America  as  I  have  found  them 
during  the  war. 

Many  people  have  an  inclination  to  place  the 
blame  on  the  Latin  Americans,  claiming  they 
are  pro-German  at  heart,  that  their  professed 
sympathies  with  the  Allies,  and  even  their 
declarations    of   war   and   their    severance   of 


WITH  LATIN  AIVIERICA  3 

diplomatic  relations  with  Germany,  are  merely 
bluffs  to  serve  mercenary  ends  and  that,  in 
reality,  the  Latin  American  countries  do  not 
wish  to  deal  with  us  and  secretly  detest  and 
hate  us.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  case, 
although,  to  tell  the  truth,  if  the  majority  oi 
Latin  Americans  really  were  pro-German 
rather  than  pro-American  at  heart  we  could 
scarcely  blame  them  if  we  look  at  the  matter 
from  a  broad-minded,  impartial  point  of  view. 
In  the  first  place,  the  majority  of  Latin  Ameri- 
can countries  have  suffered  little  if  any  from 
the  horrors  of  war  or  from  Teutonic  brutali- 
ties and  f rightfulness ;  the  war  has  been  a  dis- 
tant thing,  and  while  it  has  cut  off  much  of 
their  trade  and  has  caused  immense  losses  and 
no  little  suffering,  yet  it  has  not  been  vividly 
brought  home  to  them,  while  German  propa- 
ganda, and  lack  of  American  propaganda  to 
offset  it,  has  had  its  effect.  In  the  second 
place;  our  attitude  towards  Latin  America  in 
the  past  has  not  been  such  as  to  inspire  a  vast 
amount  of  confidence  or  love  and  we  have  done 
little  and  have  made  few  serious  efforts  to 
overcome  the  natural  racial  prejudice  and  the 


4  GETTING  TOGETHER 

mutual  misunderstandings  which  exist  between 
the  Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  races  or  between 
Catholic  and  Protestant  countries. 

Europeans,  on  the  other  hand, — and  espe- 
cially the  Germans, — ^have  always  aimed  to 
establish  and  maintain  friendly  relations  with 
the  Latin  Americans  and  have  adopted  ways, 
means  and  customs,  in  so  far  as  trade  and  com- 
merce are  concerned,  suited  to  South  Ameri- 
can conditions.  Moreover,  vast  numbers  of 
Latin  Americans  have  been  educated  in  Europe 
and  have  visited  the  continent  and  have  made 
enduring  friendships  there,  and  as  a  result, 
they  naturally  feel  more  at  home  with  Euro- 
peans than  with  us  and  are  more  familiar  with 
European  than  with  North  American  customs, 
life  and  languages.  But  despite  these  facts, 
the  Latin  Americans  are  ready  and  willing  to 
throw  their  lots  with  us ;  to  follow  in  our  lead ; 
to  establish  true  Pan- Americanism  and  to  give 
us  the  bulk  of  their  trade,  provided  we  meet 
them  half  way.  But  before  we  can  hope  to 
accomplish  much  we  must  overcome  all  racial 
and  religious  prejudices  and  distrust  and  in 
order  to  do  this  we  must  acquire  a  more  ac- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  5 

curate  knowledge  of  our  southern  neighbors. 
And  this  knowledge  should  not  be  confined  to 
the  geography  of  their  countries,  to  their  lives, 
their  language  and  their  commercial  wants,  but 
should  include  a  study  of  their  history,  litera- 
ture, arts  and  traditions,  for  to  the  Latin 
American  tradition  and  history  are  sacred 
things  and  he  is  justly  proud  of  his  art  and 
literature,  and  these  matters  have  a  far  greater 
influence  upon  his  customs,  temperament  and 
life  than  among  ourselves. 

It  is  all  very  well  to  advocate  the  study  of 
Spanish  and  Portuguese,  but  a  knowledge  of 
the  South  American  tongues  is  but  a  stepping 
stone  to  the  equally  important  study  of  their 
history  and  civilization.  Indeed,  of  all  fac- 
tors which  have  kept  the  North  and  South 
Americans  apart,  I  would  place  ignorance 
first,  for  not  only  are  we  wofully  ignorant  of 
the  Latin  Americans,  but  they  are  oftentimes 
very  ignorant  of  us.  In  fact,  long  association 
and  dealings  with  Europe  has  left  the  Latin 
Americans  with  very  erroneous  ideas  of  the 
United  States  and  its  people,  and  in  many  cases 
these  ideas  have  been  insidiously  instilled  and 


6  GETTING  TOGETHER 

carefully  fostered  and  nourished  by  Germans 
and  other  interested  parties,  prominent  among 
whom  are  the  turbulent,  selfish  politicians  who 
resent  any  interference  with  their  revolution- 
ary activities.  And  as  the  bulk  of  Latin 
Americans  are  a  credulous,  uneducated  and 
simple  lot  the  most  impossible  stories  are 
given  credence,  while  many  of  our  past  actions, 
and  especially  the  outrageous  behavior  of  ad- 
venturers and  unscrupulous  individuals,  have 
proven  excellent  foundations  of  truth  upon 
which  to  build  vast  fabrics  of  fiction  designed 
to  instil  a  hatred  and  distrust  of  all  North 
Americans  in  the  bosoms  of  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can masses. 

And  here  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to 
our  bumptious  manner  of  abrogating  to  our- 
selves the  term  '^Americans,''  although  we  are 
no  more  Americans  than  are  the  natives  of 
Canada,  Brazil,  Venezuela  or  any  other  land  in 
the  New  World  and  yet,  despite  the  fact  that 
our  whole  country  is  smaller  than  one  single 
South  American  republic,  we  take  unto  our- 
selves the  name  ** American"  as  if,  forsooth, 
we  were  the  only  denizens  of  the  New  World 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  7 

worthy  of  any  consideration.  Latin  Americans 
invariably  resent  this  attitude  and  politely  call 
attention  to  our  conceit  by  speaking  of  us  as 
'* North  Americans,'^  although,  through  cus- 
tom and  long  usage,  the  majority  of  South 
Americans  now  speak  of  us  as  ** Americans'* 
and  of  themselves  as  *^ South  Americans/' 
But  this  is  one  of  the  least  obnoxious  of  our 
irritating  customs  and  our  patronizing  ways. 
Latin  Americans  are  a  very  susceptible  people 
and  nothing  hurts  them  worse  than  ridicule 
and  yet  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  of  us 
constantly  poke  fun  at  Latin  America  and  its 
people  and  ridicule  the  customs,  ways,  and 
manners  of  the  inhabitants  at  every  oppor- 
tunity. In  addition,  we  treat  them  in  a  con- 
temptuous manner,  look  upon  them  as  inferiors, 
criticize  their  habits,  endeavor  to  upset  or 
revolutionize  their  time-honored  customs  and 
consider  ourselves  superior  and  our  own  ways 
preferable,  and  openly  speak  of  them  as 
Greasers  and  Spigottis.  Even  in  the  Canal 
Zone  and  Panama,  government  employees,  offi- 
cials and  resident  Americans  speak  of  the 
natives  as  **  Spigottis '^  and  yet,  if  it  had  not 


8  GETTING  TOGETHER 

been  for  these  selfsame  ^ '  Spigottis/ *  the  canal 
could  not  have  been  put  through,  unless  we 
frankly  and  openly  waged  war  and  seized  their 
lands,  and  it  would  be  a  mighty  good  thing  for 
all  concerned  if  the  use  of  this  obnoxious  term 
by  any  Zone  employee  meant  his  immediate 
discharge. 

Worst  of  all,  such  behavior  on  our  part  is 
without  the  least  reason  or  excuse.  Latin 
American  ways  are  not  our  ways,  Latin  Ameri- 
can civilization  is  not  our  civilization  and 
Latin  American  nature  is  not  our  nature.  But 
Latin  American  lives,  customs,  manners  and 
habits  have  been  evolved  and  brought  about  by 
environment,  ancestry  and  temperament  and 
are  just  as  well  suited  to  the  people  as  are  our 
own,  and  it  is  the  height  of  effrontery  on  our 
part  to  try  to  alter  them  or  to  force  the  Latin 
Americans  to  our  ways  and  manner  of  life, 
thought  and  business.  No  doubt, — to  the  Ger- 
mans,— Hun  ''Kultur''  is  the  ideal  state  and 
Teutonic  frightfulness  is  desirable,  but  we 
can't  see  it  in  that  light  and  don't  want  it 
forced  upon  us  and  yet  I  doubt  if  Germanism 
or  Prussianism  would  be  any  more  distasteful 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  9 

to  us  than  North  Americanism  or  Yankeeism 
to  the  Latin  Americans. 

As  an  example  of  our  overbearing  and 
bumptious  attitude  let  me  cite  a  case  which 
came  under  my  own  observation  in  Cuba. 
Here  the  natives  have  established  a  country 
club;  a  delightful  place  Avith  palatial  club- 
house, enormous  grounds,  splendid  equipment 
and  every  luxury  and  convenience.  Conceived 
and  carried  out  by  the  Cubans,  paid  for  by  them 
and  maintained  at  their  owti  expense,  yet,  with 
the  customary  Latin  American  courtesy,  they 
permitted  many  resident  Americans  to  become 
members  and  always  welcomed  strangers  from 
the  States.  And  with  what  result?  Very  soon 
the  North  Americans  looked  upon  the  club  as 
theirs,  they  treated  the  native  members  with 
arrogance  and  contempt  and  they  openly 
boasted  that  they  were  going  to  ^^  force  the 
Cubans  ouf  and  make  it  a  strictly  American 
club. 

And  this  is  not  an  exceptional  case  for  I 
could  mention  scores  of  similar  instances;  but 
one  other  will  suffice.  While  I  was  in  Panama 
a  dance  was  given  at  the  Tivoli  Hotel  to  which 


10  GETTING  TOGETHER 

natives,  North  Americans  and  Army  and  Naval 
officers  were  alike  welcome.  There  were  pres- 
ent a  number  of  officers  of  the  Porto  Rican 
regiment  and  one  young  American  officer  re- 
fused to  dance  with  a  young  lady  because  she 
had  danced  with  a  Porto  Rican  and  stated  that 
he  couldn't  mingle  with  the  natives  and  Porto 
Ricans  as  they  were  all  ** niggers''  when,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  many  of  them  came  of  far  older 
and  better  families  than  his  own. 

Such  behavior  as  this  will  destroy  more 
friendship  and  confidence  in  us  than  years  of 
e:ffort  will  build  up;  but  it  is  typical  of  the 
attitude  of  the  majority  of  our  citizens  in 
Latin  America. 

Of  course  Latin  Americans  have  their  faults, 
failings  and  shortcomings,  just  as  we  have 
ours;  but  their  civilization  is  far  older  than 
ours,  they  are  our  superiors  in  many  ways  and 
because,  in  certain  respects,  they  are  not  up 
to  our  standards  of  progress,  business  methods, 
sanitation,  morality  or  industry,  there  is  no 
reason  to  condemn  or  underrate  them,  for 
with  equal  logic  they  could  turn  the  tables  on 
us.     Those    who    don't   like    Latin   American 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  11 

ways  should  by  all  means  keep  out  of  Latin 
America;  but  if  we  expect  to  accomplish  any- 
thing of  lasting  value  in  the  southern  repub- 
lics we  must-  learn  to  see  the  good  and  the 
admirable  of  the  countries  and  their  people 
instead  of  seeing-  only  their  faults  and  their 
failings.  And  there  is  much  of  good  and  much 
that  is  worthy  of  admiration  and  even  of  imita- 
tion in  Latin  America.  In  courtesy,  honest 
business  methods,  hospitality  and  many  other 
traits  the  Latin  American  is  our  superior,  and 
in  richness,  fertility,  resources,  and  in  many 
places,  climate,  the  Latin  American  countries 
are  far  ahead  of  the  greater  part  of  our  own 
land.  Moreover,  their  failings,  as  judged 
from  our  standpoint,  are  due  largely  to  en- 
vironment and,  as  a  rule,  the  North  American 
who  dwells  in  South  America  and  starts  out 
to  revolutionize  the  local  customs  and  habits, 
soon  adopts  the  ways  of  the  natives  and  goes 
them  one  better. 

We  hear  much  of  the  **manana'^  tfabit  of 
Latin  Ajnericans,  but  my  experience  has  been 
that  this  habit  in  its  most  exaggerated  form 
is  far  commoner  among  our  countrymen  resi- 


12  GETTING  TOGETHER 

dent  in  South  America  than  among  the  natives. 
A  Latin  American  may  put  you  off  until  to- 
morrow; but  the  transplanted  North  American 
puts  you  off  "until  next  week  and  then  doesn't 
keep  his  promise. 

In  fact,  a  large  part  of  what  we  think  we 
know  about  South  America  is  utter  nonsense 
and  the  first  thing  we  must  do  is  to  unlearn 
nearly  all  our  accepted  ideas  of  South  America 
and  its  inhabitants.  So  let  us  cast  aside  all 
prejudice,  all  traditional  foolishness  and,  with 
an  open  mind,  consider  the  facts  as  they  are 
and  not  as  we  would  wish  them  and  try  to  see 
wherein  we  have  so  signally  failed  to  establish 
the  mutual  confidence  and  friendship,  the 
brotherly  relations  and  the  lucrative  commerce 
and  business  which  should  exist  between  the 
northern  and  the  southern  continents  and  then, 
having  analyzed  this  side  of  the  question,  we 
may  better  understand  what  we  must  do  in  the 
future. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  13 


CHAPTER  II 

It  has  become  quite  customary  to  blame  the 
war  for  everything,  and  no  doubt  the  war, 
which  has  done  so  much  to  further  Pan- Ameri- 
canism, has  also  been  a  great  factor  in  pre- 
venting its  accomplishment. 

Lack  of  tonnage,  embargos  on  exports  and 
imports,  and  the  general  disruption  of  business 
in  wartime,  have  done  much  to  prevent  us 
from  developing  our  interests  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica; but  even  considering  these  matters,  we 
have  not  made  the  progress  we  should.  By 
bitter  experience  we  have  learned  that  in  time 
of  peace  we  must  prepare  for  war  and  we  must 
also  learn  that  in  time  of  war  we  must  prepare 
for  peace,  and  one  of  the  most  important  of 
these  preparations  is  to  establish  such  close 
relations  with  Latin  America  that  they  cannot 
be  severed  by  Europeans,  and  will  remain 
firm,  unbroken  and  vital  long  after  the  war  has 
become  mere  history. 


14  GETTING  TOGETHER 

I  have  already  spoken  of  our  erroneous 
ideas  of  Latin  America  and  its  inhabitants, 
and  among  the  greatest  of  our  mistakes  is  our 
habit  of  looking  upon  all  Latin  Americans  as 
of  the  same  race,  with  common  characteristics, 
habits,  customs  and  ways.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the 
various  peoples  of  Latin  America.  To  be  sure, 
they  are  all  of  Spanish  or  Portuguese  descent, 
but  the  term  ^' Spanish'^  covers  a  great  variety 
of  races,  for  in  Spain  there  are  Andalusians, 
Catalans,  Gallegos,  Basques,  Castilians,  Navar- 
rese,  etc.,  each  with  their  oAvn  distinctive  char- 
acteristics, ways,  and  dialects,  and  the  various 
portions  of  Latin  America  were  originally 
settled  by  immigrants  from  various  parts  of 
Spain  with  the  result  that  to-day  we  find  the 
dominant  peculiarities  of  each  provincial  race 
still  strongly  in  evidence.  Thus,  in  Costa 
Eica,  we  find  the  fair-skinned,  light-haired, 
blue-eyed  Catalan  type,  while  in  neighboring 
Panama,  the  dark-haired,  brown-eyed,  olive- 
skinned  type  of  southern  Spain  is  predomi- 
nant. 

Moreover,  through  centuries  of  life  in  the 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  15 

New  World,  and  through  an  admixture  with 
the  aboriginal  Indians  and  the  colored  race, 
the  Latin  Americans  have  developed  a  great 
variety  in  characters,  appearances,  tempera- 
ments, ideals,  customs  and  even  in  languages. 
Many  North  Ajnericans  labor  under  the  delu- 
sion that  all  Latin  Ajnericans  have  a  large 
proportion  of  negro  blood  in  their  veins,  but 
this  is  also  a  grave  mistake  which  has  largely 
been  brought  about  by  judging  all  Latin  Ameri- 
cans by  the  few. 

In  Santo  Domingo,  Cuba,  Panama  and  else- 
where, and  in  the  majority  of  South  Ajnerican 
Atlantic  coastal  towns,  the  bulk  of  the  popu- 
lation,— and  that  implies  the  bulk  of  the 
laboring  classes, — is  decidedly  colored  it  is 
true,  but  there  are  many  South  American 
countries,  such  as  Bolivia,  Ecuador,  Costa 
Eica,  etc.,  where  the  black  or  colored  race  is 
practically  non-existent,  and  even  in  a  repub- 
lic where  colored  blood  predominates  in  some 
localities,  one  may  find  that  in  another  portion 
of  the  same  country  colored  people  are  seldom 
seen. 

Thus,  in  the  Darien  district  of  Panama,  near 


16  GETTING  TOGETHER 

the  Colombian  border,  the  natives  are  nearly- 
all  negroes,  whereas,  in  the  Veraguas  and 
Chiriqui  districts,  north  of  the  Canal  Zone,  the 
people  are  largely  of  pure  Spanish  blood  or  of 
mixed  Spanish  and  Indian  descent.  An  equally 
great  variation  in  customs,  manners  and  prog- 
ress is  also  to  be  found  in  Latin  America,  or 
even  in  different  portions  of  a  single  republic. 
One  may  find  the  coastal  towns  dilapidated, 
dirty,  poverty  stricken  and  moribund,  and  yet, 
the  inland  cities  and  capitals  may  be  thor- 
oughly modern,  sanitary,  clean,  rich  in  mag- 
nificent buildings  and  palatial  residences  and 
filled  with  industry.  Even  those  of  our  own 
people  who  actually  have  visited  South  Amer- 
ica are  often  sadly  lacking  in  a  true  knowl- 
edge of  the  conditions  and  the  people,  for  the 
average  traveler  seldom  goes  beyond  the 
coast  towns  and  chief  ports  and  wrongly 
judges  the  whole  country  by  the  glimpses  he 
obtains  from  a  hurried  drive  or  walk  about  the 
streets. 

As  a  rule,  the  coastal  districts  are  the  hot- 
test, most  unhealthful  and  undesirable  parts 
of   the   countries,   and   their   inhabitants    are 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  17 

largely  of  tlie  lowest  and  most  ignorant  class 
of  laborers,  and  it  is  no  more  possible  to  form 
a  true  opinion  of  a  Latin  American  republic 
by  its  ports  than  to  judge  the  United  States 
and  its  people  by  New  York's  waterfront  or 
the  lower  East  side.  We  would  scoff  at  the 
foreigner  who  drew  conclusions  of  Boston, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis  or  Washington  from  a  brief 
visit  to  New  York  or  CharlestowTi ;  who  at- 
tempted to  judge  of  California's  climate  or 
customs  from  a  few  days  in  New  England,  or 
who  wrote  a  book  on  the  United  States  and 
its  inhabitants  after  a  journey  from  New  York 
to  Boston  or  Providence,  and  yet,  we  are  con- 
stantly doing  the  same  thing  as  regards  Latin 
America.  Indeed,  what  intelligent  idea  would 
a  tramp  obtain  of  our  country  by  hiking  from 
New  York  to  Chicago,  avoiding  large  towns 
and  eating  and  sleeping  at  farm  houses  and 
laborers'  shacks?  What  opinion  could  he  form 
of  our  people  or  ways  from  the  treatment 
afforded  a  tramp?  He  might  be  intelligent, 
educated,  respectable,  but  the  very  fact  that 
he  was  footing  it,  was  dusty,  travel-stained  and 
roughly  clad,  would  preclude  his  being  treated 


18  GETTING  TOGETHER 

otherwise  than  as  a  tramp.  Let  any  one  of 
my  readers  try  the  experiment  if  he  will.  And 
suppose  this  same  tramp  was  a  South  Ameri- 
can, perhaps  tinged  with  colored  or  Indian 
blood,  possessing  a  knowledge,  but  not  a  com- 
plete mastery,  of  our  tongue,  and  looked  upon 
with  more  or  less  suspicion  and  distrust  by 
the  ignorant,  narrow-minded  countrypeople, 
and  we  may  imagine  what  sort  of  a  story  he 
would  tell  of  North  Americans  and  their  ways. 
And  yet,  when  one  of  our  people  assumes  the 
manner  and  appearance  of  a  tramp  and  makes 
a  journey  through  the  backyards  of  a  small 
section  of  South  America  the  result  of  his  ex- 
periences and  his  observations  are  hailed  as 
the  last  word  and  the  truest  insight  into  the 
lives,  habits  and  conditions  of  our  Latin 
American  neighbors. 

Can  we  wonder  therefore  that  such  travel- 
ers, and  such  books  and  articles  as  they  pro- 
duce, are  thorns  in  the  side  of  the  Latin 
Americans  and  that  they  do  an  incalculable 
amount  of  harm  and  prove  a  most  potent  factor 
in  preventing  closer  relations  with  South 
America  1 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  19 

But  most  of  our  ignorance  of  our  South 
American  friends  is  due  to  the  lack  of  interest 
we  have  taken  in  them  and  to  our  smug,  self 
complacency  and  conceit;  to  the  misleading 
proportions  of  South  America  as  compared  to 
North  America  on  our  ordinary  maps  and 
geographies,  and  to  a  long  cherished  belief 
that  South  America  is  a  hot,  dangerous,  un- 
healthful  wilderness  inhabited  by  savages,  wild 
beasts  and  semi-civilized,  brigandish  cut- 
throats who  dwell  in  tumble-down,  filthy,  pest 
holes  and  whose  sole  occupations  are  highway 
robbery  and  bull  fighting.  This  may  seem  like 
an  exaggeration,  but  even  in  many  of  the 
geographies  in  daily  use  in  our  schools  to-day, 
we  will  find  less  space  devoted  to  the  whole  of 
South  America  than  to  some  unimportant 
European  colony  in  equatorial  Africa,  while 
the  sole  illustration  depicts  veritable  menag- 
eries of  wild  beasts  and  gigantic  reptiles  in 
impossible  jungles ;  piratical-looking  horsemen 
driving  naked  negro  slaves  in  the  fields,  or 
earthquakes  demolishing  imaginary  cities  to 
the  accompaniment  of  marvelous  lightning,  tor- 
rential rains  and  howling  hurricanes.     It  is 


20  GETTING  TOGETHER 

high  time  that  our  schools  devoted  more  atten- 
tion to  Latin  America  and  that  our  text  books 
contained  sufficient,  reliable  information  on 
South  America  to  instil  an  interest  in  the 
marvelous  land  to  the  south  of  ours.  And 
when  I  state  that  the  majority  of  North 
Americans  know  little  or  nothing  of  Latin 
America,  and  that  what  they  think  they  know 
is  usually  erroneous,  I  am  not  exaggerating. 
If  we  look  into  the  matter,  and  all  we  have  to 
do  to  prove  my  statement  is  to  ask  our  friends 
and  our  acquaintances  a  few  questions,  we  will 
find  a  lamentable  lack  of  knowledge,  a  marvel- 
ous ignorance  and  almost  incredibly  false  ideas 
of  Latin  America  even  among  otherwise  well 
educated  people  and  business  men.  How  many 
can  name  the  capitals  of  South  and  Central 
America;  how  many  can  tell  their  largest 
ports,  or  can  even  be  sure  if  certain  republics 
have  seaports?  Question  your  friends,  among 
business  men,  as  to  the  leading  imports  and 
exports  of  Latin  America;  ask  them  the  num- 
ber of  miles  of  railways  in  operation,  or  the 
time  it  takes  to  reach  the  countries;  try  to 
ascertain  any  facts  in  regard  to  them,  and, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  21 

eight  times  but  of  ten,  you  ^11  find  they  have 
but  the  haziest  ideas  about  anything  in  Latin 
America. 

Indeed,  few  of  us  have  even  the  faintest  true 
conception  of  the  sizes  of  the  South  American 
Republics.    We  are  so  accustomed  to  thinking 
of  them  as  remote,  insignificant,  little-account 
places   that   we   haven't    ever   had   the   truth 
brought   home   to   us.     Moreover,   we   are   so 
wrapped  up  in  our  national  pride,  and  have 
been  so  impressed  with  the  vast  size,  wealth 
and  power  of  our  own  wonderful  land,  that  we 
have  quite  forgotten  that  the  United  States 
doesn't  occupy  the  larger  part  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  or  that  our  teeming  millions  don't 
form  the  largest  and  only  worthwhile  portion 
of    the    New    World's    inhabitants.      But    we 
shouldn't  let  national  pride  blind  us   to   im- 
portant facts.    Don't  overlook  the  fact  that  of 
the  hundred  and  fifty  odd  million  people  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  over  sixty-five  millions 
are  Latin  Americans,  and  don't  forget  that  these 
same  Latin  Americans  occupy  and  own  three- 
fourths  of  the  twelve  million  square  miles  of 
earth  which  comprise  the  republics  of  the  New 


22  GETTING  TOGETHER 

World.  The  United  States  is  a  marvelous 
land  of  immense  proportions  but  that  should 
not  prevent  us  from  remembering  that  our 
entire  country,  ^^haut  Alaska,  could  be  set 
down  in  Brazil  and  still  leave  room  for  New 
England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Dela- 
ware to  fill  in  around  the  edges.  Recollect  that 
the  Argentine  is  equal  in  size  to  all  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  first  tier 
of  States  west  of  it  in  addition.  In  little 
Bolivia  we  could  find  room  for  every  State  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Alabama, 
while  Uruguay,  smallest  of  South  American 
republics,  is  larger  than  New  York  and  West 
Virginia  combined  and  is  twice  the  size  of 
Portugal. 

Only  by  such  comparisons,  only  by  keeping 
such  facts  fresh  in  our  minds,  can  we  appre- 
ciate the  size,  the  importance  and  the  possibili- 
ties of  Latin  America.  And,  perhaps  more 
important  yet,  especially  to  the  business  man, 
is  the  fact  that  these  countries  annually  draw 
upon  the  outside  world  for  over  nine  hundred 
million  dollars  worth  of  goods.  That  we  can 
furnish  practically  all  of  this  stupendous  quan- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  23 

tity  of  material  goes  without  saying,  but  not- 
withstanding this  fact  Europe  controls,  or  did 
until  the  war,  86  per  cent  of  these  Latin  Ameri- 
can imports.  Why,  we  may  ask,  has  France 
furnished  five  times  as  many  motor  cars, 
Germany  twenty  times  as  many  iron  beams 
and  structural  material  and  England  twice  as 
much  machinery  as  ourselves?  Why  can  we 
point  to  but  14  per  cent  of  the  export  trade 
to  Latin  America  as  our  share  in  the  past, 
when  there  is  notliing  furnished  by  Europe 
which  we  cannot  supply  and  which  our  geo- 
graphical, economical  and  industrial  position 
should  enable  us  to  furnish  cheaper  and  better 
than  any  other  country? 

The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek,  but  the  reason 
is  due  to  many  causes.  Ignorance  of  Latin 
America  is  one,  lack  of  effort  is  another; 
absence  of  cooperation  is  a  third,  want  of 
organization  is  still  another;  improper  repre- 
sentation is  another,  and  finally,  there  is  our 
inherent,  long,  but  falsely  fostered  prejudice 
against  the  Latin  Americans  as  a  race 

We  are  brought  up  to  believe  that  our  south- 
ern neighbors  are  savage,  dissolute,  immoral, 


M  GETTING  TOGETHER 

bloodthirsty,  lawless  and  dishonest ;  that  every- 
one in  Latin  America  is  lazy  and  that  their 
countries  are  backward;  that  a  foreigner's 
life  and  property  is  unsafe  on  Latin  American 
soil,  that  revolutions  are  as  much  a  part  of 
the  daily  routine  as  coffee  for  breakfast,  that 
the  cities  are  pest  holes  of  disease ;  that  venom- 
ous snakes  and  obnoxious  insects  swarm  and 
that  filth,  disease  and  death  menace  the  trav- 
eler at  every  step.  It  seems  almost  ridiculous 
to  denounce  such  ideas  as  absolutely  false,  to 
brand  stories  of  such  things  as  unmitigated 
lies  and  to  point  out  the  utter  fallacy  of  such 
beliefs. 

True  it  is  that  many  of  our  sister  republics 
have  had  difficulty  in  maintaining  stable  gov- 
ernments, that  revolutions  have  been  frequent 
and  that  unprincipled,  dishonest  men  have 
been  too  often  in  power.  But  such  conditions 
are  not  universal  nor  typical,  and  many  of  the 
Latin  American  governments  are  as  stable, 
as  honestly  administered  and  have  enjoyed  as 
long  periods  of  peace  as  any  other  countries. 
Even  when  revolutions  do  occur,  the  lives  and 
properties  of  foreigners  are  seldom  jeopard- 


WITH  LATIN  AIMERICA  25 

ized,  unless  the  said  foreigners  have  been 
actively  interested  in  politics  or  have  taken 
part  in  an  insurrection.  As  far  as  anti- Ameri- 
can feeling  is  concerned  I  have  yet  to  find  it, 
although  one  often  finds  mighty  good  reasons 
for  it  to  exist.  Also,  the  Latin  American  has 
a  different  code  of  morals  from  ours;  but  h'^ 
is  seldom  dissolute  and  it  is  rare  indeed  to  -see 
an  intoxicated  person  in  Latin  America,  while 
serious  crimes,  such  as  highway  robbery,  bur- 
glary, rape,  etc.,  are  almost  unkno^vn.  Both 
in  business  and  private  life  Latin  Americans 
are  as  honest,  and  often  far  more  honest,  than 
ourselves;  they  are  kindhearted,  sympathetic 
and  hospitable  instead  of  bloodthirsty;  their' 
seeming  laziness  is  merely  their  sensible  adap- 
tation to  a  climate  which  one  must  bow  to; 
many  of  their  cities  are  more  modern,  more 
beautiful  and  far  more  cleanly  than  our  own 
and  the  mortality  in  most  of  them  is  lower 
than  that  of  New  York  or  Boston.  Venomous 
snakes  are  perhaps  the  rarest  living  things  in 
Latin  America,  the  noxious  insects  are  con- 
fined to  the  forests  and  the  hovels  and  in  few 
Latin  Ajnerican  countries  or  towns  can  we  find 


26  GETTING  TOGETHER 

as  many  flies  or  mosquitoes  as  in  our  own  cities. 
Many  of  our  foolish  misconceptions  of  Latin 
Americans  have  been  brought  about  through 
our  boyhood  tales  of  blood  and  thunder  in 
which  the  Latin  American  was  invariably  the 
villain  with  a  knife  in  his  boot  and  who  was  a 
treacherous,  vindictive,  swarthy  cut-throat  to 
whom  all  other  men  and  women  were  legitimate 
prey.  But  such  characters  do  not  exist  in  real 
life.  Few  Latin  Americans  possess  knives  and 
still  fewer  possess  boots,  and  those  who  have 
the  wherewithal  to  own  either,  are  educated, 
gentlemanly,  law  abiding,  cultured  men.  And 
when  we  visit  a  Latin  American  country,  and 
instead  of  the  black-browed,  greasy-haired, 
fierce  visaged  villains  we  have  pictured  we 
find  light-haired,  clear-skinned,  blue-eyed  men 
and  the  fairest  of  fair  women  we  are  almost 
shocked  to  find  how  erroneously  we  have 
judged  our  neighbors  to  the  south. 

But  even  if  we  disabuse  our  minds  of  such 
silly  beliefs,  even  if  we  are  familiar  with  the 
sizes,  the  development,  the  importance  of 
Latin  American  countries,  we  often  fail 
througH  ignorance  of  conditions  and  customs. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  27 

Our  own  business  manners  are  so  brusque,  so 
devoid  of  courtesies,  so  separated  from  social 
life  and  are  rushed  through  so  rapidly,  that 
we  cannot  understand  or  adapt  ourselves  to 
the  totally  different  conditions  which  prevail 
in  Latin  America. 

I  have  said  before  that  until  we  study  the 
history,  art,  literature  and  language  of  Latin 
America  we  cannot  hope  to  acquire  a  true  in- 
sight into  the  Latin  American  people,  and 
such  studies  should  be  a  part  of  our  common 
school  education,  or  at  least  a  selective  study 
in  the  high  schools.  It  may  be  argued  that  the 
average  man  or  woman  has  no  reason  to  take 
an  interest  in  South  America  or  has  no  cause  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  our  Latin  American 
neighbors  and  their  customs.  This  may  be 
very  true  in  a  way,  but  neither  has  the  average 
man  or  woman  any  real  and  valid  reason  for 
studying  algebra,  geometry  or  Greek,  and  yet, 
we  consider  them  a  necessary  part  of  our  edu- 
cational system. 


28  GETTING  TOGETHER 


CHAPTER  III 

South  Amekicans,  as  a  rule, — that  is  the 
educated  class, — are  far  better  informed  of 
the  outside  world  than  are  we,  and  practically 
every  Latin  American  of  the  better  class  has 
a  speaking  knowledge  of  French,  and  often  of 
German,  as  well  as  of  English  and  his  own 
tongue,  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  Latin 
American  laughs  in  his  sleeve,  being  too  courte- 
ous to  laugh  openly,  at  our  boasted  superiority 
and  culture  when  he  finds  that  we  send  diplo- 
matic representatives,  and  even  salesmen,  to 
his  land,  who  cannot  speak,  read  or  under- 
stand any  language  save  English. 

This  matter  of  representatives  is  a  most  im- 
portant one,  and  especially  as  it  refers  to  our 
diplomatic  and  consular  service.  Our  consular 
service  has  been  criticized  and  condemned  for 
a  long  time  and  there  is  a  popular  idea  that  it 
has  been  vastly  improved  in  recent  years.  But 
my    experience   in    tropical   America    extends 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  29 

over  a  period  of  thirty  years  and  I  cannot  see 
that  any  real  headway  has  been  made  in  ap- 
pointing more  capable  or  creditable  repre- 
sentatives than  in  the  past.  Many  of  our  con- 
sular officers  are  intelligent,  hard  working, 
conscientious  men  and  splendidly  fitted  for 
their  positions,  provided  they  were  assigned 
to  the  proper  countries.  But  in  a  great  many 
cases  these  men  are  misfits  and  are  absolutely 
unable  to  accomplish  results  in  the  lands 
wherein  thev  are  stationed.  I  know  of  one 
vice  consul  w^ho  had  been  years  in  the  service 
in  Japan  and  China,  where  he  acquired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  conditions,  customs  and 
language,  and  who  was  then  transferred  to 
France,  where  his  knowledge  of  French  and 
his  love  of  the  people  caused  him  to  take  an 
intense  interest  in  his  duties  and  where  he 
should  have  been  a  highly  valuable  man. 
Then,  without  apparent  rhyme  or  reason,  he 
was  shifted  suddenly  to  a  Latin  American  post. 
He  was  absolutely  ignorant  of  Spanish,  he  de- 
tested the  place  and  the  people;  he  had  no 
interest  in  his  new  duties  and,  being  com- 
pelled to  transact  all  his  business  through  a 


30  GETTING  TOGETHER 

native  interpreter,  lie  was  thoroughly  dis- 
gusted mth  his  lot,  and  made  no  effort  to  ac- 
complish anything  and  was  dissatisfied,  pes- 
simistic and  a  decided  hindrance  instead  of  a 
help.  His  was  no  exceptional  case,  for  I  have 
known  of  dozens  of  our  consular  representa- 
tives who  have  been  shifted  from  pillar  to  post 
and  from  country  to  country  until,  in  despair, 
they  gave  up  all  attempts  to  master  the 
tongues  of  the  people  or  to  become  familiar 
with  local  conditions.  And  no  one  can  blame 
them.  What  incentive  is  there  to  learn  a 
language  and  study  conditions  and  politics 
when  at  any  time  one  may  be  sent  to  some  far 
distant  post  where  all  one's  patiently  acquired 
knowledge  will  go  for  naught?  Not  only  does 
such  a  system  lead  to  men  being  assigned  to 
posts  for  which  they  are  not  adapted,  but  it 
tends  also  to  lower  the  efficiency  and  value  of 
the  entire  consular  system  by  discouraging  any 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  individuals  to 
equip  themselves  to  deal  with  local  conditions. 
Why  cannot  we  keep  our  representatives  in 
countries  for  which  they  are  fitted?  If  a  man 
speaks  French  why  not  transfer  him  from  one 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  U 

French-speaking  conntry  to  another!  If  he 
speaks  Spanish,  let  him  remain  in  lands  where 
Spanish  is  spoken.  Surely  this  is  logical  and 
sensible  and  is  also  good  business  sense.  But 
under  our  present  system  it  would  appear  as 
if  every  member  of  our  diplomatic  corps  was 
numbered  and  that  when  a  vacancy  was  to  be 
filled,  or  a  change  made,  the  numbers  were 
shaken  up  in  a  hat  and  drawn  by  someone 
blindfolded. 

But  a  still  more  objectionable  feature  of  our 
consular  service  is  the  fact  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  our  representatives  are  absolutely  un- 
fitted for  any  post.  Many  of  them  are  dis- 
solute, ignorant,  narrow-minded,  prejudiced, 
lazy  or  mere  nonentities ;  while  many  more  are 
decent  enough  chaps,  but  having  obtained 
their  positions  through  political  influence,  they 
have  no  idea  of  their  duties  and  appear  to 
think  that  Uncle  Sam  is  paying  them  to  have 
a  good  time  and  to  let  the  native  clerk  run  the 
consulate.  Consular  conditions  may  be  worse 
in  Latin  America  than  elsewhere,  but  they  are 
so  bad  in  Latin  America  that  when  one  does 
find  a  conscientious,  useful,  courteous  official 


S2  GETTING  TOGETHER 

who  upholds  his  post  with  dignity  and  who  de- 
mands and  receives  respect  for  himself  and 
our  flag,  one  is  filled  with  surprise  and  marvels 
at  such  a  unique  character.  And  it  is  not  only 
among  the  underlings  of  the  service  that  we 
find  deplorable  conditions.  Can  we  wonder 
that  the  natives,  and  resident  North  Ameri- 
cans, have  little  respect  for  a  United  States 
Minister  who  is  the  subject  of  gossip,  in- 
nuendos  and  scandal,  or  that  our  diplomatic 
force  should  be  laughed  at  when  a  Second 
Secretary  of  Legation  spends  most  of  his  time 
flirting  with  married  women,  or  in  the  com- 
pany of  native  demi-mondaines,  and  whose  be- 
havior was  such  that  he  became  a  public 
nuisance  and  was  warned  by  the  management 
of  his  hotel  that  unless  his  conduct  was  less 
objectionable  he  would  be  asked  to  leave. 

Still  others  of  our  representatives  who 
should  be  weeded  out  are  those  who  have  per- 
sonal interests  or  investments  in  the  countries 
to  which  they  are  assigned,  and  who  for  selfish 
motives,  do  all  in  their  power  to  prevent  others 
of  their  countrymen  from  embarking  in  busi- 
ness, development  or  any  other  industry  in  the 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  33 

country.  All  of  these  various  types  I  have 
met  and  have  known  and  even  among  the  few 
decent,  capable,  disinterested  and  efficient 
officers  I  have  run  across,  I  have  found  many 
who,  through  thoughtlessness  or  ignorance, 
have  done  much  to  prevent  closer  ties  between 
the  United  States  and  the  lands  where  they 
were  stationed,  or  who  were  disliked  by  the 
natives  omng  to  some  act,  word  or  deed  of 
their  own  or  their  wives  and  which  were  quite 
unintentional. 

Thus,  in  one  South  American  republic,  I 
found  the  consul's  wife  was  in  the  habit  of 
holding  religious  services  in  the  rooms  over 
the  consulate.  To  the  natives  of  this  Catholic 
country  this  savored  of  proselyting  under 
the  protection  and  official  sanction  of  the 
United  States  government  and  the  consul  and 
his  wife  were  consequently  looked  upon  with 
distrust  and  dislike  and  were  avoided  and  ig- 
nored on  every  occasion.  Moreover,  the  people 
were  convinced  that  our  government  was 
striving  to  overthrow  their  religion.  This 
proved  a  splendid  opportunity  for  Teutonic 
propagandists    and    the    belief    was    fed    and 


34  GETTING  TOGETHER 

fostered  by  the  pro-German  element.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  consul's  wife  was  perfectly 
innocent  of  the  hornet's  nest  she  was  stirring 
up,  but  if  she  or  her  husband  had  possessed 
any  common  sense,  or  had  been  familiar  with 
the  Spanish  language  and  local  conditions, 
they  would  have  held  the  services  in  some 
other  building,  and  no  harm  would  have  re- 
sulted, although  even  then  their  actions  would 
have  been  in  bad  taste. 

Where  the  blame  for  such  conditions  lies  I 
cannot  state,  but  I  presume,  that  like  nearly 
everything  else  in  our  dealings  with  Latin 
America,  it  is  due  to  ignorance  of  conditions. 
At  any  rate  it  is  not  due  to  ignorance  of  facts 
for  many  persons,  including  myself,  have 
pointed  out  most  flagrant  cases  of  unsuitable 
representatives,  both  officially  and  in  print, 
and  yet  nothing  is  done  and  no  attention  paid 
to  the  matter. 

It  is  a  very  unwise  plan  to  criticize  without 
suggesting  a  remedy  and  the  remedy  in  this  case 
is  simple.  Appoint  men  to  represent  us  who 
are  worthy  to  do  so  and  pay  them  enough  to 
get  good  men.    At  present  we  pay  starvation 


WITH  CATIN  AMERICA  35 

wages,  and  unless  a  man  lias  an  independent 
income,  he  cannot  afford  to  accept  a  consulate 
position,  if  he^s  good  for  anything.  We  are 
the  richest  country  in  the  world  and  we  pay 
our  consuls  the  lowest  salaries  and  we  cannot 
expect  to  get  good  men  unless  we  pay  them 
salaries  in  accord  with  the  qualifications  they 
should  possess.  Then,  having  secured  good 
men,  we  should  use  sense  and  discrimination 
in  assigning  them,  and  having  once  proved 
their  worth  and  ability,  keep  them  in  countries 
with  the  language  and  customs  of  wliich  they 
are  familiar.  And  finally,  cast  aside  a  mass  of 
red  tape,  for  red  tape  is  responsible  for  fully 
half  of  our  nonsensical  and  short-sighted  pol- 
icy towards  Latin  America.  If  three  disin- 
terested, respectable  people  complain  of  a 
consular  official,  that  official  should  promptly 
be  removed,  for  it's  morally  certain  there's 
something  wrong,  and  a  long  official  investiga- 
tion, and  ponderous  unwinding  of  countless 
layers  of  red  tape,  won't  make  it  right,  al- 
though the  aforesaid  red  tape  may  so  entangle 
the  facts  that  the  offending  consular  officer 
may  retain  his  position,  to  the  lasting  detri- 


36  GETTING  TOGETHER 

ment  of  the  service  and  our  goverinneiit  ^s 
reputation. 

And  many  of  the  business  representatives 
which  we  send  to  South  America  are  very 
nearly  as  bad  as  our  diplomats.  Exporters 
and  manufacturers  who  have  been  dealing  for 
a  long  time  with  Latin  America  have  learned 
to  discriminate  and  to  select  men  who  are  fitted 
for  the  work  to  represent  their  houses  and  sell 
their  goods.  But  a  great  many  firms  who  are 
striving  to  secure  a  share  of  South  American 
trade  seem  to  think  that  any  salesman  is  good 
enough  for  Latin  America,  while  still  others 
employ  men  who  speak  Spanish  or  Portuguese 
and  deem  that  all  sufficient. 

Of  course  the  Spanish  or  Portuguese  speak- 
ing salesmen  have  a  great  advantage  over  their 
competitors,  who  are  obliged  to  depend  upon 
interpreters,  but  speaking  the  language  does 
not  necessarily  imply  that  the  man  can  get 
orders.  A  knowledge  of  the  countries  visited, 
of  the  people,  their  customs,  lives,  and  business 
methods,  of  the  resources  of  the  land  and  what 
they  produce  and  what  they  require  are  all 
essential,  and,  in  addition,  to  be  really  sue- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  ST 

cessful,  tlie  salesman  visiting  Latin  America 
must  be  conversant  with  the  transportation 
facilities  of  the  countries,  and  the  proper 
routing  and  the  climatic  conditions.  There  are 
hosts  of  splendidly  competent  salesmen  travel- 
ing through  Latin  America  but  there  are  two 
poor  men  to  every  good  one  and  many  a  firm 
has  become  discouraged,  and  has  given  up  all 
efforts  to  secure  Latin  American  trade,  when 
the  entire  fault  was  the  incompetency  of  its 
representatives. 

Moreover  it  is  not  alone  our  trade  and  busi- 
ness relations  that  suffer  from  improperly  se- 
lected salesmen,  for  the  matter  has  also  a  very 
direct  bearing  upon  successful  Pan- American- 
ism. Foolish  as  it  is,  the  Latin  Americans,  like 
ourselves,  are  all  too  prone  to  judge  the  many 
by  the  few,  and,  in  many  parts  of  South  Amer- 
ica, the  only  North  Americans  ever  seen  are 
traveling  salesmen.  Thus,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand that  an  uneducated,  ignorant,  rude  or 
patronizing  man  may  cause  the  people  to  take 
an  intense  dislike  for  North  Americans  in 
general  and  to  become  firmly  convinced  that 
we  are  all  *^Pigs." 


38  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Of  course,  a  great  many  of  these  men  do 
secure  orders  and  a  certain  amount  of  trade, 
but  this  is  not  because  of  their  personality,  but 
in  spite  of  it.  The  South  American  is  seldom 
so  shortsighted  as  to  bite  off  his  own  nose  and 
if  his  only  opportunity  to  secure  the  goods  he 
requires  is  through  an  objectionable  or  im- 
politic salesman  he'll  place  his  orders  rather 
than  go  without.  And  this  is  unquestionably 
the  reason  why  so  many  incompetents  succeed 
in  holding  down  their  jobs.  But  getting  orders 
is  not  by  any  means  the  most  important  factor 
in  the  establishment  of  a  lasting  Latin  Ameri- 
can trade.  The  Latin  American  may  be  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  his  finer  feelings  and  overcome 
his  repugnance  towards  boorish  salesmen  in 
order  to  maintain  his  business  during  the  war, 
but  he  will  not  continue  to  do  so  after  the  war 
is  over  and  trained,  competent  European 
salesmen  once  more  enter  the  field,  for,  with 
few  exceptions,  the  European  salesman  is  gen- 
tlemanly, educated,  familiar  with  the  customs 
and  language  of  the  countries  he  visits,  and  in 
addition,  is  a  born  diplomat.  He  mingles  with 
the  people   socially,  he  is  well  informed  on 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  39 

political,  financial,  and  international  subjects 
and  he  devotes  as  much  or  even  more,  of  his 
time  to  establishing  friendships  and  pleasant 
relations  as  to  securing  trade  and  placing 
orders.  Of  course  many  of  our  salesmen  are 
also  in  this  class  and  are  just  as  competent  and 
well  equipped  for  their  work  as  any  of  their 
European  competitors. 

But  the  fact  that  the  European  is  usually  a 
superior  salesman  to  our  own  is  well  recog- 
nized by  many  American  firms  and  a  number 
of  our  largest  and  most  successful  exporters 
employ  British,  French,  Danish  or  other  Euro- 
pean salesmen  to  represent  them  in  Latin 
America.  In  many  out  of  the  way  spots  in 
Latin  America  business  representatives  are 
often  the  only  foreigners  known  to  the  natives, 
and  even  in  the  better  known  and  more  cos- 
mopolitan towns,  they  are  more  closely  in 
touch  with  the  people  than  any  other  class  of 
visitors.  As  a  result,  they  possess  unique  and 
exceptional  opportunities  for  influencing  the 
attitude  and  opinions  of  the  natives  and  for 
bringing  us  more  closely  in  touch  and  sym- 
pathy with  the  Latin  Americans.    In  fact,  it  is 


40  GETTING  TOGETHER 

no  exaggeration  to  state  tliat  really  good  sales- 
men and  business  representatives  are  of  more 
value  and  importance  than  the  diplomatic 
representatives  and  that  they  have  it  in  their 
power  to  do  far  more  harm,  or  good,  than  our 
consular  officers. 

Salesmen  of  the  type  we  should  send  to 
Latin  America  are  not  common  and  they  are 
not  cheap,  and  the  manufacturer  or  exporter 
who  tries  to  economize  on  his  representatives 
makes  a  tremendous  mistake.  I  have  known  of 
hard-headed,  keen  business  men  objecting 
strenuously  to  an  expense  bill  of  a  few  hundred 
dollars  for  entertainments  sent  in  by  his  repre- 
sentative in  Latin  America  and  yet,  the  value 
of  the  orders  received  through  the  expenditure 
was  many  times  the  cost  of  the  entertainment. 

Social  and  business  life  are  closely  asso- 
ciated in  Latin  America,  and  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can is  a  free  spender  and  the  salesman  who 
w^ould  succeed  must  be  in  a  position,  both  so- 
cially and  financially,  to  entertain  as  lavishly 
and  to  spend  as  freely  as  the  people  he  visits. 
To  stop  at  second-rate  hotels,  to  confine  one's 
activities  to  business  hours  and  to  accept  the 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  41 

hospitality  of  tlie  people  and  give  nothing  in 
return,  or  even  to  refrain  from  mingling  mtli 
them  in  their  pastimes,  their  recreations  and 
their  clubs  is  poor  policy  and  poorer  economy. 
Moreover,  the  puritanical,  narrow-minded^ 
strait-laced  individual  mil  never  succeed  in 
Latin  America.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  ad- 
vocate drinking,  gambling  and  similar  pur- 
suits, but  the  Latin  Americans  possess  a  dis- 
tinctly different  moral  code  from  ours  and  look 
upon  such  things  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 
they  resent  criticism,  either  spoken  or  implied. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  become  a  drunkard  in 
order  to  drink  a  glass  of  beer  or  a  cocktail  with 
Latin- American  friends  and  one  is  not  neces- 
sarily a  gambler  if  he  throws  dice,  plays  poker 
or  bets  on  horse  races,  and  even  if  one's  con- 
science will  not  permit  one  to  do  these  things 
one  may  at  least  refrain  from  visibly  and 
ostentatiously  frowning  upon  them  and  preach- 
ing against  them.  Neither  salesmen  nor  con- 
suls are  sent  to  South  America  as  moral 
censors  or  missionaries  and  yet  many  of  them 
appear  to  think  that  they  are,  and  make  their 
presence  obnoxious  by  the  attitude  of  superior 


42  GETTING  TOGETHER 

righteousness  they  assume.  There  is  little 
choice  between  such  men  and  the  dissolute,  im- 
moral, degenerates  I  have  mentioned,  and,  of 
the  two,  I  believe  the  smug,  canting  Puritan 
is  the  worst.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  such  men 
are  hypocrites  and  the  people  know  it,  for  it's  a 
mighty  hard  job  to  keep  one's  feelings  con- 
cealed in  a  Latin- American  town  where  scandal 
and  gossip  are  rife  and  where  one's  life  is 
practically  public  throughout  the  whole  twenty- 
four  hours  of  the  day.  But  even  worse  than 
such  men  are  those  who  are  continuously  criti- 
cizing all  things  Latin  American,  who  are 
constantly  boasting  of  the  superiority  of  their 
own  people,  their  own  land  and  their  own 
customs  and  who  hold  themselves  as  aloof  as 
though  contamination  would  result  if  they 
mingled  with  the  natives,  though  they  are  glad 
enough  to  book  their  orders  and  take  their 
money.  It  is  this  class  of  men  who  constantly 
refer  to  the  Latin  Americans  as  ^^ niggers" 
and  **spiggotis"  and  who  can  see  nothing  good 
in  the  Latin-American  countries  or  people. 
And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  the  Latin  American 
is  too  polite  and  courteous  to  retaliate,  and  in- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  43 

stead  of  taking  np  the  cudgel  in  his  own  de- 
fense, or  finding  weak  epots  in  our  armor, 
he  smilingly  swallows  the  insults  and  ac- 
quires additional  distrust  and  dislike  for  the 
^  *  Gringos.  * ' 

A  great  many  North  Americans  assume  a 
most  patronizing  air  when  in  any  foreign 
country,  and  especially  in  Latin  America,  and 
appear  to  think  that  the  Latin  Americans  are 
semi-wards  of  the  United  States  and  that  they 
are  under  a  tremendous  and  lasting  obligation 
to  us  for  what  we  have  done  for  them.  This 
is  intensely  irritating,  for  the  Latin  American 
is  as  proud  of  his  race,  liis  country  and  his 
customs  as  are  w^e  of  ours,  and  with  just  as 
good  reason.  His  ways  are  not  our  ways,  his 
race  may  be  decidedly  tinged  with  African  and 
Indian  blood  and  his  country  may  be  head 
over  heels  in  debt,  far  behindhand  and  unde- 
veloped; but  his  independence  was  won  by 
bloody  battles  in  which  red,  white  and  black 
fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  heroic 
bravery,  and  he  loves  his  country  with  pas- 
sionate devotion  and  possesses  a  degree  of 
patriotism   we    can   never   imderstand.     And 


44  GETTING  TOGETHER 

when  we  get  right  do^m  to  brass  tacks  what 
have  we  ever  done  for  Latin  America  to  instil 
a  fawning  gratitude  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people?  Not  a  few  of  tlie  revolutions  which 
have  done  so  much  to  destroy  Latin- American 
prestige  and  prosperity  have  been  planned, 
financed  and  organized  in  the  United  States 
and  by  our  citizens.  On  more  than  one  occa- 
sion we  have  overawed  the  republics  with  our 
superior  power  and  have  compelled  them  to 
submit  to  most  humiliating  and  unnecessary 
acts  and  apologies ;  we  have  interfered  in  their 
politics  and  the  administration  of  their  laws 
and  we  have  compelled  them  to  pay  indemni- 
ties, or  to  make  redress,  ^  for  the  taking  of 
North  American  lives  and  the  confiscation  of 
our  citizens'  property  in  many  instances  when 
lives  and  property  were  justly  forfeited.  And 
to  further  our  own  ends,  and  to  force  our  point 
of  view  upon  them,  we  have  even  incited  re- 
bellion or  at  least  tacitly  encouraged  it,  and 
then,  having  strenuously  denied  that  we  were 
a  party  to  it,  have  acknowledged  our  duplicity 
by  an  indemnity  to  the  aggrieved  country. 
Indeed,  our  policy  towards  Latin  America  has, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  45 

in  tlie  past  at  least,  been  most  contradictory 
and  incomprehensible.  We  have  refused  to 
recognize  executives  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  legally  elected  and  at  other  times  have 
recognized  and  upheld  executives  who  were 
just  as  **  illegally ' '  placed  in  office. 

It  may  be  all  very  well  to  say  that  we  can 
decide  what  is  the  right  thing  for  the  Latin 
Americans  better  than  they  can  decide  for 
themselves,  but  we  wouldn't  appreciate  such 
actions  from  a  larger  and  more  powerful 
country  under  similar  circumstances  and, 
moreover,  in  many  cases  the  despotic  dictator 
may  suit  the  conditions  in  a  Latin-American 
country  far  better  than  a  benign  president. 

Or,  for  another  example,  take  the  ridicu- 
lously unfair  manner  in  which  we  have  dis- 
criminated against  the  citizens  of  Panama  in 
the  matter  of  their  trade.  Although  the  city 
of  Panama  is  the  capital  and  center  of  business 
and  trade  in  the  Kepublic,  yet  its  importers 
and  merchants  cannot  have  their  goods  shipped 
directly  to  them.  Instead,  all  consignments  to 
Panama  must  be  discharged  at  Colon,  loaded 
on  the  cars  of  the  Panama  Railway  and  trans- 


46  GETTING  TOGETHER 

ported  by  rail  across  the  Isthmus  to  Panama, 
and  the  importer  must  pay  all  the  charges  of 
unloading,  dockage,  reloading  and  railway 
freight  in  addition  to  the  oceanic  freight. 
When  the  goods  are  shipped  from  Atlantic 
points  by  vessels  whose  destination  is  Colon, 
this  would  be  expected,  perhaps;  but  the  same 
rulings  apply  with  equal  force  to  cargoes  on 
vessels  bound  through  the  Canal,  or  from  west 
coast  or  Asiatic  ports.  Although  these  ships 
touch  at  Balboa, — the  Pacific  terminal  of  the 
Canal,  yet  the  freights  consigned  to  Panama, 
— only  two  miles  distant, — cannot  be  dis- 
charged there  but  must  be  carried  through  the 
Canal,  unloaded  at  Colon  and  shipped  back  to 
Panama  by  rail.  Even  if  a  ship  enters  the 
Atlantic  end  of  the  Canal  bound  for  the  Pacific 
with  freight  for  Panama,  yet  the  freight  can- 
not be  carried  to  its  destination  by  the  vessel 
but  must  be  discharged  at  Colon  for  transpor- 
tation by  railway  across  the  Isthmus.  As  a 
result  of  this,  the  charges  for  unloading,  re- 
loading, and  railway  transportation  often  ex- 
ceed the  total  oceanic  freights  and  yet  it  could 
all  be  avoided  merely  by  permitting  ships  to 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  4T 

discharge  their  Panama  freights  at  the  Pacific 
end  of  the  Canal. 

On  one  occasion,  a  vessel  reaching  Balboa 
found  it  would  be  necessary  to  transfer  her 
cargo  to  another  ship  for  transportation  across 
the  Atlantic.  The  vessel  to  which  the  cargo 
was  to  be  transferred  was  also  at  Balboa 
bound  through  the  Canal,  but  the  authorities 
refused  to  allow  the  cargo  to  be  transferred 
from  ship  to  ship  and  had  it  unloaded  on  the 
docks,  reloaded  on  the  train,  shipped  across 
the  Isthmus  by  rail,  unloaded  again  at  Colon 
and  once  more  put  aboard  the  ship  when 
she  came  through  the  Canal,  and  any  pack- 
ages consigned  to  Panama  were  then  re- 
loaded on  the  train  and  sent  back  to  Panama 
again. 

If  such  childishly  insane  methods  are  our 
ideas  of  good  business,  economic  transporta- 
tion or  proper  shipping  methods,  how  can  we 
hope  to  succeed  as  a  commercial  nation? 

The  only  reason  for  this  utterly  incompre- 
hensible state  of  affairs  seems  to  be  a  desire 
to  favor  the  Panama  Kailway  and  while  this 
might  be  expected  where  a  privately  owned 


48  GETTING  TOGETHER 

railway  has  a  monopoly,  as  the  Panama  Eail- 
way  is  a  United  States  Government  institution 
it  seems  like  pretty  small  business  to  go  out 
of  our  way  and  employ  unnecessary  labor,  pile 
up  uncalled  for  expenses  and  handle  freight 
many  times  over  for  the  benefit  of  the  railway, 
and  it  certainly  is  no  way  to  win  either  the 
trade  or  confidence  of  the  people. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  to  offset  such  things, 
and  to  make  up  for  such  shortcomings  in  our 
dealings  with  Latin  America,  we  have  really 
done  a  great  deal  of  good  and  have  given  our 
southern  neighbors  many  benefits.  I  admit 
that,  in  a  way  we  have.  We  helped  to  free 
Cuba  and  placed  her  in  a  position  Avliich  in- 
sured her  prosperity  and  we  have  pledged  our- 
selves to  maintain  her  independence  and  in- 
tegrity. We  have  pacified  Haiti  and  Santo 
Domingo  and  have  set  them  on  the  road  to 
prosperity.  We  have  prevented  the  spolia- 
tion of  Venezuela  by  Germany  and  Great 
Britain.  We  have  enforced  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine and  we  have  transformed  Cuba,  Porto 
E-ico,  Haiti  and  Panama  from  pest  holes  to 
clean,  healthful,  sanitary  countries.     But  how 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  49 

mucli  of  this  has  really  been  from  disinterested 
motives  ? 

How  many  of  these  things  have  we  done  for 
the  sake  of  Latin  America?  It  is  a  popular 
belief  that  we  cleaned  and  sanitized  Panama 
free  of  charge  and  that  the  Panamanians 
should  be  under  a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude  for 
our  philanthropic  work.  The  Panamanians 
are  under  a  lasting  debt,  both  of  gratitude  and 
cash,  for  we  charged  them  for  every  cent's 
worth  of  improvement  we  made  and  they  are 
still  paying  us  off  mth  interest,  and  mil  be 
for  many  decades  to  come. 

Not  that  the  Panamanians  objected  to  the 
arrangement,  I  believe  there  was  but  one  dis- 
senting voice  when  the  proposition  came  up  for 
vote,  and  the  Panamanians,  the  Cubans,  the 
Haitians  and  the  Dominicans  are  thoroughly 
alive  to  the  benefits  and  the  advantages  that 
have  resulted  from  the  improvements  we  in- 
stituted and  established  and  for  which  they 
paid;  but  they  object  strenuously  to  being 
looked  upon  or  treated  as  wards,  dependents 
or  ingrates.  They  were  mlling  to  pay  for 
what  they  got,  and,  having  done  so,  consider 


50  GETTING  TOGETHER 

that  they  are  under  no  more  obligation  than 
in  any  other  business  deal  and  we  would  feel 
exactly  the  same  way  if  the  conditions  were 
reversed.  Do  we  feel  under  an  obligation  to 
the  builders  of  our  subways,  our  railways,  our 
sewer  systems,  our  Hudson  tubes? 

We  pay  for  these,  we  use  them,  we  appre- 
ciate them,  but  do  we  blazon  the  names  of  their 
promoters  on  our  memories  and  bow  down  to 
them  as  superior  beings  and  allow  them  to  tell 
us  what  a  crowd  of  stupid,  slothful,  backward 
people  we  were  not  to  have  conceived  and  car- 
ried out  such  things  without  their  help? 

The  truth  is,  we  find  it  mighty  difficult  to  see 
ourselves  as  others  see  us,  or  to  look  at  mat- 
ters from  the  Latin- American  standpoint,  and 
the  same  being  true  of  the  Latin  Americans, 
we  have  failed  to  get  together  as  we  should. 
Moreover,  we  North  Americans  are  not  by  any 
means  as  adaptable  as  we  should  be  or  as  we 
think  we  are  and  in  this  respect  the  Latin 
American  is  far  and  away  our  superior.  Latin 
Americans  come  to  the  United  States  and 
within  a  few  weeks  have  adopted  our  ways, 
manners,  customs,  habits   and  language,   and 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  51 

even  our  slang,  and,  in  a  measure,  they  acquire 
the  North  American  point  of  view  and  our 
ideals.  But  how  about  the  average  North 
American  who  goes  to  South  America! 

Even  when  he  speaks  the  native  tongue  he 
is  still  aggressively  North  American  and  goes 
about,  figuratively,  wrapped  in  the  American 
flag.  He  does  not  fraternize  with  the  people, 
he  takes  little  or  no  interest  in  local  affairs,  he 
selects  his  fellow  countrymen  for  his  asso- 
ciates, he  finds  fault  with  every  local  condition, 
habit  and  mode  of  life;  he  curses  the  native 
cookery,  the  native  shops,  the  native  methods 
of  business,  and  the  natives  themselves,  and 
when  he  isn't  damning  them  he  ridicules  them, 
with  the  result  that  he  is  irritating  to  himself 
and  the  people  and  becomes  firmly  convinced 
that  there  is  nothing  good  in  the  place.  And 
then  there  is  the  other  extreme,  the  man  who 
falls  so  naturally  and  easily  into  native  ways 
that  he  adopts  all  their  worst  features  and  few 
of  the  best.  He  frequents  the  lowest  resorts, 
he  loses  all  sense  of  morality,  he  gambles  and 
drinks,  becomes  dissipated,  slovenly,  dirty, 
lazy  and  is  soon  a  byword  and  an  object  of 


52  GETTING  TOGETHER 

contempt  for  the  natives  and  the  North  Ameri- 
cans alike.  Then,  as  an  excuse,  he  blames  the 
climate  and  the  people,  and  his  fellow  country- 
men,— who  don't  know  better, — believe  him 
and  become  imbued  with  a  holy  horror  of  any- 
thing Latin  American.  Kare  indeed  is  the 
North  American  who  adapts  himself  to  Latin- 
American  conditions  in  such  a  way  as  to  retain 
his  self-respect  and  the  respect  of  the  natives ; 
but  when  we  do  find  such  men  we  find  no  con- 
tempt for  the  Latin  Americans,  no  patronizing 
or  overbearing  manners,  no  complaints,  but 
instead,  praise  of  many  things,  criticism  of  few 
and  an  ever-increasing  love  of  Latin  America 
and  its  people.  South  Americans  are  emo- 
tional and  nothing  pleases  or  flatters  them 
more  than  appreciation  and  praise  of  their  be- 
loved countries  and  customs,  and  the  man  who 
treats  them  fairly,  who  can  see  things  from 
an  unprejudiced  point  of  view  and  who  ex- 
presses his  admiration  and  fondness  for  their 
countries  and  inhabitants  is  assured  of  true 
and  lasting  friendship,  a  warm  welcome  and 
a  marvelous  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  Latin 
Americans. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  53 

So,  if  we  are  sincere  in  onr  efforts  to  bring 
about  more  intimate  relations  with  Latin 
America,  and  are  really  anxious  to  secure  an 
enduring  South  American  trade,  we  must  select 
our  diplomatic  and  our  business  representa- 
tives with  care  and  foresight ;  we  must  demand 
that  they  possess  the  needed  qualifications  to 
deal  with  Latin  America,  we  must  abandon 
our  patronizing  and  superior  attitude ;  we  must 
cease  prating  and  boasting  of  what  we  have 
done ;  we  must  be  honest  with  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans, and  with  ourselves,  and  finally,  we  must 
learn  to  adapt  ourselves,  or  at  least  those  Vv^ho 
have  dealings  with  Latin  America  must  adapt 
themselves,  to  Latin- American  life,  climate  and 
conditions. 

And,  most  of  all,  we  must,  to  use  a  slangi 
expression,  ^*get  busy.''  Eegardless  of  the 
present  conditions  there  is  going  to  be  a  tre- 
mendous competition  for  South  American 
trade  when  the  war  is  over  and  the  develop- 
ment of  South  America's  resources  and  natural 
wealth  is  going  to  alter  the  economic  condi- 
tions of  the  world.  We  have  dilly-dallied 
along,  our  interests  have  been  lukewarm  and 


64  GETTING  TOGETHER 

we  have  subordinated  our  efforts  in  Latin 
America  to  our  more  important  war  work.  But 
while  we  must  strain  every  sinew,  must  devote 
every  energy  and  must  give  every  dollar  pos- 
sible to  carry  our  campaign  to  a  victorious 
finish,  yet  we  should  not  abandon  everything 
in  our  promotion  of  the  war,  nor  lose  sight  of 
what  will  come  afterwards.  Scores  of  busi- 
nesses, of  manufactures  and  of  enterprises  go 
on  with  scarce  an  interruption  and,  despite  the 
lack  of  ships,  South  America  is  still  in  regular 
communication  with  the  United  States  and 
commerce  still  continues.  To  maintain  and 
improve  our  relations  with  Latin  America  is  a 
most  important  matter  and  doubly  important 
during  the  war.  Despite  the  fact  that  they 
have  been  longer  at  war  than  ourselves,  that 
their  finances  and  resources  have  been  far 
more  depleted  than  ours  and  that  they  have 
suffered  immeasurably  more  in  loss  of  ships, 
men  and  trade,  yet  the  European  nations  have 
maintained  a  small  army  of  representatives  in 
Latin  America  ever  since  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities; their  credits  have  been  kept  up,  their 
business    houses    and   banking    systems    have 


WITH  LATIN  AJVIERICA  65 

managed  to  survive  and  when  peace  is  declared 
Europe  will,  in  many  ways,  be  in  a  better  posi- 
tion to  reap  the  benefits  and  profits  of  South 
American  trade  than  will  we. 


56  GETTING  TOGETHER 


CHAPTEE  IV  ! 

I 

) 

We  have  long  been  deluding  ourselves  with  | 

the  idea  that  the  war  has  eliminated  German  i 
interests  from  Latin  America  and  that  it  has 

reduced  all  European  trade  to   such  a  point  j 

that  we  could  step  in,  and  with  scarcely  any  , 

effort,   secure  practically  all  the  business   of  i 

South  America.  I 

It  is  true  that  active  European  trade  with  ; 

South  America  has  largely  been  destroyed,  but  I 

despite  this,  Europeans  have  never  lost  inter-  ; 
est  in  their  Latin-American  trade   and  com- 

merce  and  have  maintained  their  hold  and  have  ] 

kept  themselves  in  such  a  position  that  they  ; 

are  fully  prepared  to  resume  their  commercial  ' 
relations  the  moment  peace  is  declared,  and, 

moreover,  they  are  prepared  to  carry  on  many  i 

times   as   much   business   as   before   the   war.  j 

Throughout  the  period  of  the  war  the  British  ] 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  57 

exporters,  bankers,  manufacturers  and  other 
business  men  have  managed  to  keep  constantly 
in  close  touch  with  Latin  America  through 
their  representatives,  even  booking  orders, 
establishing  credits  and  preparing  for  a  post- 
bellum  trade  campaign  of  immense  and  unpre- 
cedented magnitude,  for  England  and  France 
realize  that  after  the  war  there  is  going  to  be 
a  tremendous  boom  in  South  America  and  they 
intend  to  have  their  share  of  it.  In  addition^ 
England,  with  a  sadly  depleted  treasury  ancj 
the  superabundance  of  small  vessels  which  will 
unquestionably  be  on  her  hands,  will  find  in 
Latin  America  the  best  opportunities  for  mak- 
ing money  rapidly  and  for  holding  the  control 
of  shipping  to  South  America.  Even  Ger- 
many's interests  have  by  no  means  disap- 
peared from  Latin  America.  Her  ships  have 
disappeared  from  the  seas,  her  business  houses 
have  been  placed  on  the  Black  Lists,  her  citi- 
zens' properties  have  been  seized  and  her  out- 
ward and  visible  signs  of  trade  activities  have 
ceased;  but  nevertheless,  German  interests  in 
Latin  America  are  not  dead,  but  have  merely 
slumbered. 


58  GETTING  TOGETHER 

In  those  republics  which  have  declared  war 
against  Germany  what  is  being  done  is  through 
unprincipled  natives ;  in  those  countries  which 
have  merely  severed  relations,  or  are  neutral, 
Germans  still  hold  their  own  and  prosper,  and 
throughout  Latin  America,  German  spies  and 
propagandists  swarm.  The  Allies  can  bo^^cott 
German  trade,  German  commerce  and  German 
ships  for  five  or  fifty  years  after  the  war,  but 
the  South  Americans,  with  few  exceptions, 
have  not  really  been  touched  by  Teuton  fright- 
fulness  and  brutality  and  they  do  not  feel  the 
intense  hatred  and  horror  of  the  Hun  which 
fills  the  hearts  of  our  people  and  our  Allies. 
And,  consequently,  their  trade  will  not  be 
withheld  from  Germany  after  the  war,  pro- 
vided Germany  can  produce  and  furnish  the 
goods  they  want  at  prices  lower  than  for  simi- 
lar goods  from  other  countries. 

And  even  during  the  war  an  immense 
amount  of  German-made  goods  have  found 
their  way  to  the  Latin- American  markets.  To 
be  sure  such  goods  have  come  from  Spain 
and  are  marked  *'Made  in  Spain,''  but  they 
are  produced  by  Germans,  they  are  the  prod- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  59 

net  sof  German  firms,  they  are  umnistakably 
German  in  quaKty  and  appearance  and  the 
profits  from  their  sale  goes  into  German 
pockets.  Many  German  firms  had  branches  in 
Spain  before  the  war  and  many  others  moved 
bag  and  baggage  into  Spain  after  the  war 
broke  out,  or  just  before  it,  and  ever  since 
have  been  producing  and  shipping  to  Latin 
America.  A  great  preponderance  of  the  lead- 
ing merchants  in  Latin  America  are  Spaniards 
and  many  of  these  men  are  decidedly  pro- 
German  in  sentiment  and  will  gladly  handle 
German  made  goods  whether  they  come  from 
Spain  or  elsewhere,  and  they  see,  or  imagine 
they  see,  great  favors  accruing  to  them  from 
this  attitude  after  the  war  is  over.  German 
trade,  German  influence  and  German  money 
have  obtained  such  a  firm  and  widespread  hold 
in  South  America  and  have  controlled  matters 
for  so  long  that  it  will  be  a  mighty  hard  matter 
to  destroy  them  and  unless  we  take  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  offered  us  at  the  moment, 
and  so  establish  ourselves  that  the  Teutonic 
ulcer  cannot  spread  after  the  war,  we  might 
just  as  well  give  up  and  content  ourselves  with 


60  GETTING  TOGETHER 

the  little  share  of  Latin- American  trade  which 
has  been  ours  in  the  past.  And  we  cannot  de- 
feat German  influence  and  German  interests 
in  South  America  by  defeating  her  armies  and 
her  navy,  nor  by  a  gigantic  merchant  fleet,  nor 
by  producing  better  goods  than  hers,  unless  we 
establish  ourselves  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Latin  Americans  and  win  their  respect  and 
convince  them  that  their  interests  and  ours  are 
the  same.  We  will  assuredly  be  the  victors  in 
the  war,  but  no  matter  how  greatly  Germany 
is  crushed  we  cannot  and  would  not  control 
her  industries,  her  banks,  her  commerce,  after 
peace  was  declared,  and  if  she  cannot  dominate 
the  world  by  naval  or  military  means,  she  will 
assuredly  strive  the  more  to  dominate  as  much 
of  it  is  possible  through  her  manufactures 
and  her  commerce.  It  may  be  argued  that 
Germany  will  be  too  poor  to  be  a  dangerous 
rival  after  her  long  and  exhaustive  war,  but 
will  she?  Does  anyone  really  know  her  finan- 
cial condition?  We  must  not  forget  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  money  she  has  spent  in 
carrying  on  the  war  has  been  spent  within 
her  o\vn  borders  and  has,  figuratively  speak- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  61 

ing,  been  taken  out  of  one  pocket  and  put  in 
the  other.  She  may  be  depleted  in  man  power, 
in  supplies,  in  raw  products,  in  ships  and  in  a 
thousand  other  ways,  but  her  population  is 
numerous  still,  her  people  are  noted  for  their 
large  families;  her  soil,  her  mines,  her  forests 
and  her  factories  will  still  exist,  and  to  make 
up  for  her  losses  she  will  strain  every  effort 
to  produce,  to  create  and  to  recoup.  Her 
losses  in  men  will  mean  just  that  many  less 
mouths  to  feed,  just  that  many  less  to  sup- 
port, and  while  it  may  be  argued  that  man 
shortage  means  labor  shortage,  we  must  re- 
member that  Germany  was  overpopulated  be- 
fore the  war  and  that  countless  thousands  of 
men  were  employed  in  munition  and  gun  fac- 
tories, in  navy  yards  and  in  the  army  and 
navy  and  that  if  her  military  and  naval  power 
is  destroyed  all  the  labor  which  once  was  de- 
voted to  supplying  these  will  be  diverted  to 
industrial  work.  Moreover,  there  is  not  the 
least  doubt  that  German  scientists,  German  in- 
ventors and  German  manufacturers  have  made 
marvelous  strides  in  the  production  of  numer- 
ous articles,  both  in  methods  and  in  economy. 


62  GETTING  TOGETHER 

It  would  be  childish  not  to  admit  this,  for  the 
Allies  have  done  so  and  they  have  not  been 
half  as  hard  pressed  as  the  Huns  and,  for  the 
Germans,  necessity  has  unquestionably  proved 
the  mother  of  invention,  even  more  than  with 
ourselves,  with  France  and  with  England. 
Germany's  loss  of  ships  has  been  most  serious 
and  many  seem  to  think  that  this  loss  assures 
us  an  easy  commercial  victory,  but  are  we  sure 
that  Germany  has  not  been  building  ships  dur- 
ing the  war?  Can  we  know  how  many  big 
vessels  are  now  ready,  or  are  under  construc- 
tion, within  her  borders  or  can  we  be  positive 
that  when  the  end  of  the  war  comes  our  enemy 
may  not  have  a  merchant  marine  almost  equal 
to  that  she  has  lost?  We  must  be  prepared 
for  any  such  eventuality;  must  be  ready  to 
wage  as  hard  and  as  relentless  an  economic 
and  commercial  war  against  the  Teutons'  de- 
sire for  world  trade  as  against  their  lust  for 
world  power  and  to  do  this  successfully  we 
must  have  all  Latin  Americas  as  our  Allies  and 
must  have  them  with  us,  heart,  soul  and  body. 
Finally,  the  boycott  which  the  Allies  will  en- 
force against  German  goods  will  cut  off  many 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  63 

of  her  markets  and  will  compel  her  to  seek 
greater  sales  in  Latin  America. 

And  Germany  is  not  the  only  competitor  we 
shall  find  in  Latin  America,  there  will  be  other 
European  nations  and,  in  addition,  a  very 
strong  competition  from  Asia.  Japan,  like 
every  insular  nation,  is  bound  to  be  a  com- 
mercial nation  and  already  her  splendid  ships 
sail  every  sea  and  steam  between  Nippon  and 
our  ports  and  to  every  important  port  in  South 
America.  The  Japanese  can  out-German  the 
Germans  in  producing  cheap  goods  and,  un- 
like the  mass  of  German  cheap  goods,  the  Japs 
give  good  value  for  the  money.  Her  people 
are  progressive,  keen  business  men,  clever 
artizans,  marvelous  imitators  and  skilled  fac- 
tory hands,  while  their  incredible  patience  and 
perseverance  and  the  supply  of  cheap  labor 
enable  them  to  take  hold  of  almost  anything 
and  to  produce  it  as  good  or  better  and  far 
cheaper  than  anyone  else. 

The  bugaboo  of  a  Japanese  invasion  has,  let 
us  hope,  been  killed  for  all  time  and  the  splen- 
did behavior  of  our  Oriental  allies  has  no 
doubt  convinced  the  most   skeptical  that  we 


64  GETTING  TOGETHER 

have  nothing  to  fear  in  the  way  of  armed  con- 
flict with  Japan,  but  an  amicable  commercial 
and  trade  war  is  quite  a  different  matter. 
The  Oriental  diplomat  is  immeasurably  supe- 
rior to  ours,  the  Asiatic  is  far  more  adaptable 
to  local  conditions,  his  patience  is  greater  and 
in  his  facility  for  acquiring  languages,  and  for 
grasping  facts,  he  is  a  marvel.  Moreover,  the 
urbane,  unobtrusive,  ever-smiling  Japanese 
salesmen  is  a  joy  to  behold  in  comparison  with 
our  brusque,  often  boorish,  loud-voiced,  pat- 
ronizing and  offensively  North  American  rep- 
resentatives, for  the  Japanese,  no  matter 
what  he  may  be  in  private  life,  is  outwardly 
always  a  gentleman.  Already,  in  a  great 
many  South  American  cities,  the  largest  stores 
are  those  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  and  a 
large  proportion  of  the  dry  goods  and  other 
merchandise  sold  are  made  in  Japan  and 
China.  Japan  has  probably  suffered  less  than 
any  of  the  Allies  and  is,  in  many  ways,  far 
better  off  than  before  the  war  and  the  same 
opportunities  in  Latin  America  which  the  war 
has  brought  to  us,  have  been  brought  even 
more    favorably    to    Japan;    and    she,    very 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  65 

sensibly  and  rightly,  is  taking  advantage  of 
them. 

Still  another  of  our  serious  competitors  for 
Latin-American  trade  is  Spain.  Many  of  us 
labor  under  the  delusion  that  after  the  Span- 
ish-American war  Spain  became  an  impotent, 
poverty-stricken  nation;  that  her  lost  colonies, 
and  the  Latin  Americans  generally,  detested 
her  and  her  people.  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  the  truth;  the  loss  of  her  colonies  was 
really  a  tremendous  relief  to  Spain  and  it  en- 
abled her  to  devote  the  men  and  money,  which 
had  formerly  been  necessary  to  maintain  order 
in  her  colonies,  to  commercial  and  industrial 
pursuits.  There  have  been  stupendous  changes 
in  Spain  since  the  conflict  with  us;  her  manu- 
factures, her  development  and  her  finances 
have  increased  incredibly  and  to-day  Spain  is 
a  strong,  rich  and  powerful  nation.  The  bulk 
of  Latin  Americans  are  of  Spanish  blood  and 
are  intensely  proud  of  it  and  their  sympathies, 
their  characters  and  their  tastes  are  all  pre- 
eminently Spanish.  There  is  no  dislike  of 
Spain  in  Latin  America,  no  prejudice  against 
the  Spanish,  and  the  ties  of  blood  and  language 


66  GETTING  TOGETHER 

which  bind  the  Spanish- American  to  old  Spain 
have  never  been,  and  never  will  be,  broken. 
With  wonderful  natural  resources  at  her  dis- 
posal   and    with    her    favorable    geographical 
position,  Spain  is  bound  to  be  a  tremendous 
factor  in  the  trade  with  Latin  America.     She 
has   a  merchant  marine  which  is  not  to  be 
despised,   the    Spaniards   are   excellent   mari- 
ners and  her  business  men  have  the  tremendous 
advantage  of  inborn  familiarity  with  Spanish- 
American  life,   customs,   language   and   senti- 
ment.     Although    a    great   many    of    Spain's 
present  exports  are  of  German  parentage  yet 
Spain  does  not  intend  to  permit  Germans  to 
make  her  a  catspaw  and  reap  the  profits  of  a 
trade  which  might  be  hers  and  her  motto  is 
^' Spain  for  the  Spaniards. '^    As  a  nation  she 
is  not  pro-German,  but  a  large  number  of  her 
people  are,  and  they  imagine  they  see  great 
advantages   in   keeping   the   Teuton's    friend- 
ship, but  as  a  whole  she  has  maintained  a  very 
fair  neutrality  under  most  trying  and  difficult 
circumstances.    A  few  of  her  ships  have  been 
destroyed,  a  certain  amount  of  her  trade  has 
been  cut  off;  but  she  has  really  suffered  but 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  67 

little  from  the  war  and,  in  many  ways,  has 
been  benefited,  and  already  she  is  making  huge 
strides  in  securing  a  lucrative  and  enduring 
trade  with  Latin  America. 


68  GETTING  TOGETHER 


CHAPTER  V 

What,  it  may  be  asked,  must  we  do  in  order 
to  secure  the  bulk  of  Latin- American  trade, 
to  cement  our  friendship  with  the  Latin 
Americans  and  to  defeat  the  menace  of  a  post- 
bellum  renewal  of  German  commerce? 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  be  prepared  to  do 
as  much  as  the  Germans,  and  to  less  extent, 
other  countries,  have  done  in  the  past;  we 
must  organize,  cooperate  and  adjust  ourselves 
to  local  customs  and  conditions. 

If  we  look  the  matter  squarely  in  the  face 
we  must  admit  that  Germany's  success  in 
South  America  (and  England's  as  well)  was 
due  to  the  liberal  treatment  accorded  the 
natives  and  to  efficient  organization  and  co- 
operation. Probably  the  German  banking 
system  in  Latin  America  was  the  greatest 
factor  in  her  successful  trade,  and  while  we 
have  vastly  improved  our  own  banking  sys- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  69 

terns  in  Latin  America  we  are  still  far  behind 
the  Europeans.  Not  only  were  the  British  and 
German  banks  scattered  everywhere,  even  in 
the  most  remote  spots,  but  they  were  not 
hemmed  about  with  the  conservative  methods 
and  red  tape  which  bind  our  banks.  Ajiy 
merchant  or  exporter  in  South  Ajuerica  could 
obtain  credit  from  a  German  bank  for  the  ask- 
ing, the  goods  exported  or  ordered  being  suffi- 
cient security,  and,  moreover,  a  man  desiring 
to  establish  a  business  could  secure  credit  if 
his  proposition  looked  reasonable.  In  addi- 
tion, if,  when  his  loan  came  due,  he  found  him- 
self unable  to  meet  it,  and  his  failure  to  do  so 
was  owing  to  unforeseen  causes  beyond  his 
control,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  a  longer 
credit  or  even  an  additional  loan.  I  know  of 
one  man  in  Bolivia  who  wished  to  establish  a 
branch  house  in  a  remote  district  and  applied 
to  the  German  bank  for  a  loan  of  $150,000. 
He  stated  his  views,  his  plans  and  his  pros- 
pects and  within  forty-eight  hours  received 
his  credit  for  six  months.  At  the  expiration 
of  that  time  he  not  only  found  himself  unable 
to  meet  his  obligations  but  was  actually  several 


70  GETTING  TOGETHER 

thousand  dollars  in  debt.  But  the  prospect 
was  still  promising  and  the  bank  had  no  hesi- 
tation in  advancing  an  additional  $50,000,  and 
extending  his  first  credit  for  another  six 
months.  As  a  result,  the  man  is  to-day  a  mil- 
lionaire and,  while  he  is  a  loyal  and  patriotic 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  he  cannot  be 
blamed  for  having  only  kind  feelings  for  the 
German  bankers  and  for  advocating  their 
methods.  What  American  bank  would  have 
done  this?  There  would  have  been  delays,  in- 
vestigations, publicity,  and  even  if  the  loan  was 
at  last  made,  the  opportunity  would  have 
passed  and  someone  else  would  have  reaped 
the  profits.  We  are  far  too  conservative  in  our 
banking  and  other  methods  in  Latin  America 
and  think  it  necessary  to  follow  out  the  same 
customs  and  rules  as  in  the  United  States. 
It's  all  very  well  to  be  cautious,  but  if  we  are 
to  succeed  we  must  take  chances.  No  doubt 
the  British  and  German  banks  now  and  then 
lost,  but  the  gains  more  than  offset  the  losses, 
and,  as  a  rule,  the  Latin  American  is  a  most 
punctilious  and  honorable  man  when  it  comes 
to  matters  of  business,  and  especially  of  loans. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  71 

In  a  great  many  Latin-American  countries  no 
promise  in  writing,  no  written  order,  no  sig- 
nature to  an  agreement,  is  ever  necessary  or 
expected  and  the  word  of  the  majority  of 
Latin  Americans,  and  especially  of  the  Span- 
ish merchants,  is  as  good  or  better  than  their 
bond. 

One  of  the  greatest  bugaboos  of  Latin- 
American  trade  has  been  the  question  of 
credits.  This  is  a  matter  wliich  has  been 
grossly  exaggerated  and  overrated,  a  sort  of 
bogie  which  should  not  affect  our  dealings  in 
the  slightest.  That  our  business  men  balk  at 
the  credits  asked  and  expected  by  many  Latin 
Americans  is  unquestionable;  but  this  is  due 
entirely  to  ignorance  of  conditions  in  the 
southern  republics  and  not  because  they  can- 
not afford  to  give  the  credit  asked.  — ^- 

In  the  larger  countries,  and  more  especially 
in  the  business  centers  and  capitals  of  Latin 
America,  financial  methods  and  banking  sys- 
tems are  practically  the  same  as  in  New  York, 
Paris  or  London.  In  such  places,  credits  are 
secured  by  the  various  banks  through  accept- 
ances   and   business    may   be    carried    on    as 


72  GETTING  TOGETHER 

readily  and  as  systematically  as  in  any  part 
of  the  world.  There  are  now  branches  of 
European  and  of  North  American  banks  in  all 
the  larger  cities  of  Latin  America  and  the 
financial  standing  of  any  local  firm  may  be 
established  through  the  banks  or  through 
Dun's. 

In  the  first  place,  the  prevalent  idea  that 
Latin  Americans  cannot  be  trusted,  that  long 
or  short  credits  cannot  be  granted  without  fear 
of  loss,  is  absolutely  without  foundation  in 
fact.  The  Latin  American,  and  the  Spaniard 
in  business  in  Latin  America,  is  far  more 
punctilious  in  his  business  methods  than  the 
North  American,  and  he  guards  his  business 
honor  more  carefully  than  his  life,  for  it  is 
looked  upon  almost  as  a  sacred  thing;  a  thing 
which  has  been  handed  down  from  father  to 
son  for  generations,  and  he  would  as  soon 
think  of  violating  the  honor  iof  his  business  as 
the  honor  of  his  family. 

To  deal  successfully  with  Latin  America  we 
must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  people  in  their 
credit  system,  which  is  quite  different  from  our 
own  and  which  has  been  brought  about  and  is 


1 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA                73  \ 

f 

essential  through  conditions  which  do  not  exist  i 

with   us.     In   order   to   understand   why   the  \ 

Latin- American  credit  system  is  in  vogue,  we  1 

must     understand     Latin-American     customs,  . 
life,  industry  and  business  conditions.    A  vast 

number  of  the  producers  in  Latin  Ajnerica  are  j 

men  of  small  or  moderate  means,  or  of  none  ' 

at  all,  and  who  own  or  lease  a  few  acres  of  | 
land  on  w^hich  they  raise  the  crops  which  they 

sell   to   the   merchants   and   exporters   in   the  • 
towns.     These  small  farmers  live  from  hand 
to  mouth,  their  crops  barely  serving  to  supply 
them  with  the  necessities  of  life,  and  they  have 

no  working  capital  and  no  resources  on  which  : 

to  draw,  other  than  their  crops.    But  they  are  ' 
absolutely  honest  and  hard  working  and  the 
merchants  never  hesitate  to  grant  them  credit 

against   their   crops   by   furnishing   them   the  i 
supplies  they  require  until  the  crops  are  ready 

to  harvest.     As  the  merchant  cannot  realize  I 

on  the  crops  until  gathered  and  shipped,  and  i 

as  he  is  obliged  to  maintain  his  stock  in  trade  i 

to  supply  the  planters  and  farmers,  as  well  : 

as  his  other  customers,  he  must,  in  his  turn,  I 

secure   an   equally   long   credit   from   the   ex-  \ 


74  GETTING  TOGETHER 

porters  from  whom  he  obtains  his  supplies. 
In  doing  this  he  bases  his  ability  to  meet  his 
obligations  on  his  expectations  of  the  crops  on 
which  he  has  advanced  credit.  If  the  crop 
comes  up  to  expectations  the  bills  are  paid  off, 
both  by  the  farmer  and  the  merchant,  and  a 
new  credit  account  is  started  all  over  again. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  crop  is  short,  or 
the  prices  of  the  commodities  have  dropped, 
the  merchant  cannot  meet  his  obligations  in 
full,  or  must  borrow  from  someone  to  meet 
them,  and  as  the  planter  will  look  to  him  for 
his  next  season  ^s  supplies,  or  go  to  the  wall, 
and  as  the  merchant  must  maintain  his  stock 
or  fail,  an  extension  of  credit  is  asked.  It  is 
very  seldom  indeed  that  the  shrewd  merchant 
overestimates  the  value  of  the  crops  or  grants 
credit  to  its  full  appraised  value  and  while 
such  things  may  happen,  and  unforeseen  events 
may  transpire,  yet,  on  the  whole,  no  one  loses, 
the  accounts  are  carried  along  for  year  after 
year,  the  farmer  increases  his  holdings  and  his 
crops,  the  merchant  adds  to  the  volume  of  his 
business  and  the  exporter,  who  meets  this  de- 
mand for  credit,  is  sure  of  a  lucrative  and 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  75 

lasting  trade.  It  is  largely  because  the  Euro- 
pean is  willing  to  grant  long  credits,  is  ready 
to  advance  cash, — through  his  banker,  on 
crops,  and  is  not  afraid  to  carry  running  ac- 
counts for  years,  that  Latin  Americans  have 
given  Europe  the  bulk  of  their  trade  in  the 
past.  Therefore,  the  sooner  we  realize  why 
the  Latin  American,  outside  the  largest  cities, 
must  receive  the  credit  to  which  he  is  accus- 
tomed, the  better  for  us  and  the  sooner  we 
unlearn  that  we  cannot  trust  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans in  business  matters  the  better  for  all 
concerned.  Who  first  originated  the  idea  that 
the  respectable  Latin  American  was  any  less 
trustworthy  in  business  than  any  other  nation- 
ality, is  not  known ;  but  the  idea  has  taken  root 
and  flourished  until  it  is  as  firmly  established 
as  many  another  myth  and,  like  many  another 
myth,  it  must  be  uprooted,  cast  aside  and  for- 
gotten for  all  time. 

Another  thing  we  must  do  is  to  pack  and 
ship  our  goods  carefully  and  properly,  for  the 
fact  that  Europeans  attended  to  such  matters 
and  that  their  goods  reached  their  destinations 
in  far  better  condition  than  ours,  had  a  great 


76  GETTING  TOGETHER 

deal  to  do  with  Europe  securing  such  a  large 
percentage  of  Latin-American  trade. 

Notwithstanding  that  so  much  has  been  said 
and  written  of  this  subject  in  the  past,  yet  the 
bulk  of  North- American  shippers  continue  to 
pack  their  goods  in  the  most  flimsy  and  clumsy 
manner.  For  the  first  few  times  such  igno- 
rance might  be  forgiven,  but  when  the  atten- 
tion of  the  exporters  is  repeatedly  called  to  the 
deplorable  condition  in  which  the  goods  are 
received  and  they  still  continue  to  follow  the 
same  methods,  we  can  scarcely  blame  the  Latin 
Americans  if  they  give  up  in  disgust  and  place 
their  orders  elsewhere.     , 

Such  a  state  of  affairs  can  only  be  accounted 
for  on  the  grounds  of  sublime  indifference,  or 
sublime  ignorance,  and  as  it  seems  incredible 
that  any  exporter  should  be  indifferent  to  his 
own  interests,  we  must  assume  that  ignorance 
is  at  the  bottom  of  it.  The  merchant  may 
know  that  his  goods  travel  a  certain  number 
of  miles  by  sea,  a  certain  distance  by  rail  and 
*^^ye  days  by  mule  train'';  but  this  conveys 
no  adequate  idea  of  what  his  boxes,  bales  and 
cases  must  undergo  ere  they  reach  their  final 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  77 

destination.  He  is  accustomed  to  shipping  to 
far  more  distant  points  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States  by  steamer  and  rail,  by  truck 
and  by  various  other  means  of  transportation, 
and  he  cannot  understand  why  he  should  alter 
his  ordinary  system  of  packing  merely  because 
his  shipments  are  going  to  South  America. 
But  if  he  could  only  accompany  his  shipment 
on  its  journey  he  would  be  filled  with  wonder 
that  any  box  built  of  wood  and  nails  ever  sur- 
vived complete  annihilation.  From  the  mo- 
ment the  goods  leave  the  truck  at  the  steamer 
docks  they  are  banged,  smashed,  pounded, 
mauled  and  maltreated  in  every  conceivable 
manner,  as  if  the  stevedores,  sailors,  donkey- 
engine  men  and  everyone  else  had  conspired 
to  destroy  them  and  were  to  receive  a  reward 
proportionate  to  the  destruction  wrought.  Our 
own  stevedores  are  rough  enough,  it  would 
seem,  but  they  are  careful,  painstaking,  gentle 
men  compared  to  the  Herculean  blacks  who 
unload  the  cargoes  at  the  other  end  of  the 
voyage.  If  they  can  let  a  box  or  bale  drop  a 
score  of  feet  onto  a  stone  quay,  so  much  the 
better  for  them,  for  in  picking  up  the  wreckage 


78  GETTING  TOGETHER 

tliey  may  have  a  chance  to  pocket  a  tin  of  edi- 
bles, some  piece  of  wearing  apparel  or  a  valu- 
able bit  of  hardware.  In  many  places,  too,  the 
vessels  do  not  come  alongside  the  docks,  but 
discharge  their  cargoes  into  open  boats  or 
lighters  alongside.  Usually,  in  such  ports,  the 
*^ harbor'*  is  an  open  roadstead  exposed  to  the 
ocean  swell  and,  as  the  ship  rolls  and  the  sling 
runs  down,  it  alternately  smashes  against  the 
vessel's  side  and  dips  into  the  waves  until,  at 
last,  more  by  luck  than  good  management,  the 
cases  and  bundles  are  dropped  into  the  lighter. 
Then,  like  as  not,  a  heavy  case  of  machinery, 
or  perhaps  a  bundle  of  iron  rails  or  pipes,  is 
dropped  with  a  rush  on  top  of  fragile  cases  of 
porcelain  or  glassware,  a  playful  wave  slops 
over  the  lighter  and  drenches  all,  a  leaky  drum 
of  chemicals  or  a  carboy  of  acid  is  tumbled 
in  to  top  off  the  load  and  the  lighter  heads 
towards  the  shore.  Here,  if  all  goes  well,  the 
packages  are  hauled,  hoisted  and  banged  upon 
a  flimsy  dock  or  are  piled  helter  skelter  on  the 
beach  and  later  are  carted  to  the  warehouse. 
If  their  destination  is  reached  by  railway  the 
worst  of  the  troubles  are  over,  unless  the  train 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  79 

rims  off  an  embankment,  is  wrecked  by  a  land- 
slide or  tumbles  through  a  bridge,  all  of  which 
incidents  are  merely  part  of  the  day^s  work 
in  Latin- American  railroading. 

But  if  the  destination  of  the  shipment  is  off 
the  beaten  track,  and  the  goods  must  be  trans- 
ported by  ox-cart  or  mule-back,  their  maltreat- 
ment has  but  just  begun.  For  long  days  they 
will  journey  over  the  mountains  and  across 
plains,  alternately  exposed  to  torrential  rains 
and  blazing  sunshine.  Rivers  will  be  forded 
with  the  water  swirling  above  the  bottoms  of 
the  carts  or  the  saddles  of  the  mules;  trails 
will  be  followed  where  packs  graze  jutting 
rocks  as  sharp  as  glass  and  ragged  as  gigantic 
saws;  mules  will  stumble  and  fall  and  ox  carts 
will  break  down,  but  ultimately,  the  shipment 
will  reach  its  consignees  and  what  remains  of 
the  flimsy  pine  cases  and  the  thin  muslin  bags 
will  be  delivered  triumphantly  in  the  interior 
town.  And  this  is  no  exaggerated  account  of 
the  ordinary  treatment  which  goods  shipped 
to  Latin  America  must  undergo,  and  shippers 
must  learn  to  pack  their  goods  to  withstand 
it.    I  have  seen  sewing  machines,  crockery  and 


80  GETTING  TOGETHER 

heavy  machinery  unloaded  at  South  American 
ports  and  enclosed  only  in  the  lightest  of  open 
crates.  Such  packing  might  serve  if  the  goods 
were  shipped  from  one  city  in  the  United 
States  to  another,  but  imagine  the  shape  they 
are  in  after  being  exposed  to  the  conditions  I 
have  pictured. 

The  European  shipper,  and  more  especially 
the  German,  devotes  the  greatest  care  to 
proper  packing  and  spares  no  trouble  or  ex- 
pense in  providing  suitable  cases  to  insure 
against  loss  by  breakage  and  dampness.  Time 
and  time  again  I  have  seen  stout  boxes  from 
Europe  which  contained  neat,  soldered,  tin  or 
zinc  cases  which  contained  tightly  sealed  bun- 
dles of  waterproof  paper  covering  cheap  cotton 
prints  and  the  care  and  money  expended  on 
such  matters  is  well  spent,  for  the  losses  are 
almost  nil. 

The  same  care  that  should  be  used  in  pack- 
ing should  also  be  exercised  in  marking  the 
goods,  in  making  out  invoices  and  bills  of  lad- 
ing and  in  complying  with  all  requirements  of 
the  laws  of  the  countries  to  which  the  goods 
are    shipped.     Whatever    else    they   may   be. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  81 

Latin- Amerioan  ofi&cials  are  most  punctilious 
chaps  when  it  comes  to  matters  in  writing  and 
if  an  invoice,  bill  of  lading  or  other  paper  does 
not  correspond  with  the  shipments  there  will 
be  endless  troubles  and  vexatious  delays. 
Such  mistakes  are  inexcusable,  for  anyone 
can  secure  reliable  and  full  information,  as  well 
as  aid  in  filling  out  papers,  by  making  in- 
quiries at  the  consulate  of  the  country  to  which 
the  goods  are  to  be  shipped,  and  it^s  far  easier 
and  cheaper  to  have  matters  right  at  this  end 
than  to  straighten  them  out  afterwards. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  questions  asked  by 
our  exporters  and  manufacturers  is  ^^What 
are  the  duties  in  this  or  that  country  f  Here 
again  is  ignorance  of  Latin  America  and  its 
conditions.  The  matter  of  duties  has  prac- 
tically no  bearing  on  our  trade  with  Latin 
America  for,  in  nearly  every  case,  the  duties 
are  for  revenue  only;  there  is  no  protective 
tariff,  no  reciprocity  exemptions  and  goods 
from  all  countries  pay  the  same  duty.  The 
Latin- American  merchant  does  not  expect  you 
to  quote  prices  with  duties  paid.  He  knows 
just  what  they  are,  he  expects  to  pay  them 


82  GETTING  TOGETHER 

himself,  lie  can  attend  to  the  details  far  better 
than  you  or  your  representative  and  he  figures 
the  duties  in  on  the  profits  he  expects  to  make. 
Another  matter  which  we  must  improve,  and 
in  which  the  Europeans  have  excelled  us,  is 
organization,  for,  with  few  exceptions,  our 
people  work  independently  and  in  a  hit  or  miss 
fashion  without  any  definite  object  or  knowl- 
edge and  thereby  waste  a  vast  amount  of  time 
and  money.  A  few  of  our  larger  firms  have 
seen  the  necessity  and  the  advantage  of  or- 
ganization in  dealing  with  Latin  America,  and 
they  have  prospered  greatly  thereby,  with  the 
result  that  they  practically  control  Latin- 
American  trade  in  their  special  lines.  For 
example,  take  the  Singer  Sewing  Machine 
Company;  their  machines  are  found  in  daily 
use  in  every  city,  town,  hamlet  and  settlement 
in  Latin  America  and  even  in  the  most  remote 
camps  and  huts  of  the  primitive  Indians. 
Their  calendars,  advertisements  and  literature 
are  seen  pasted  on  the  walls  of  the  poorest 
peons'  shacks  and  are  hung  in  the  salas  of  the 
best  houses,  and  their  name  is  a  household 
word  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 


JVITH  LATIN  AMERICA  83 

southern  republics.  And  this  has  all  been  ac- 
complished through  cooperation  and  complete 
organization.  Their  work  is  carried  out  with 
military  exactness  and  their  organization  is 
marvelous  in  its  efficiency  and  perfection. 
Before  a  branch  or  agency  is  established,  a 
representative  looks  over  the  ground;  he  finds 
out  the  population,  the  average  wages,  the 
financial  conditions,  the  freight  costs,  the 
transportation  facilities,  or  lack  of  facilities, 
the  rental  of  offices,  the  cost  of  help  and  every 
other  fact  which  may  be  of  interest,  and  he 
leaves  nothing  to  guesswork  or  hearsay. 
From  the  data  thus  obtained  are  estimated 
the  number  of  machines  that  should  be  sold,  the 
costs  of  selling  and  of  placing  them  on  the 
ground,  the  expenses  of  the  local  office,  and  the 
profits  which  should  result.  If  the  figures 
warrant  it,  an  agency  is  established  and  a 
manager  placed  in  charge.  If  then  the  sales 
fall  short  of  the  estimates,  if  the  profits  ex- 
pected do  not  work  out,  or  if  in  any  detail  the 
*^ scheme'^  does  not  tally  with  results,  a  satis- 
factory explanation  must  be  given  or  a  new 
man  is  placed  in  control  or  else,  if  for  some 


84  GETTING  TOGETHER 

unforeseen  reason  the  agency  proves  iinre- 
mnnerative,  it  is  promptly  abandoned  and  the 
district  placed  under  some  neighboring  agency. 

Competition  may  be  the  life  of  trade,  but  in 
Latin  America,  cooperation  is  much  more  im- 
portant. One  often  finds  the  representatives 
of  half  a  dozen  competing  firms  trying  to  sell 
the  same  sort  of  goods  in  a  tiny  Latin- Ameri- 
can town.  Each  ** knocks'^  the  other's  goods 
and  praises  his  own,  when  the  probability  is, 
that  all  are  equal  in  quality,  value  and  price. 
As  a  result,  the  trade  is  split  up  among  half  a 
dozen  firms,  each  securing  a  small  order,  the 
profits  from  which  will  not  pay  the  cost  of  the 
salesman,  whereas,  by  mutual  cooperation  and 
the  division  of  territory,  each  firm  could  con- 
trol the  entire  trade  of  a  certain  locality.  But 
cooperation  of  our  exporters  and  manufac- 
turers is  of  less  importance  than  cooperation 
with  the  Latin  Americans.  The  European 
salesman  is  ready  and  willing  to  take  orders 
for  goods  the  Latin  American  wants,  but  the 
North  American  salesman  trys  to  sell  the 
people  what  he  has,  regardless  of  their  wants. 

The  European  manufacturer  does  not  hesi- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  85 

tate  to  produce  goods  especially  for  Latin- 
American  trade,  he  even  makes  them  to  order 
to  suit  local  conditions  and  demands;  but  the 
North  American  doesn't  want  to  bother  and  as- 
sumes the  attitude  that  what's  good  enough  for 
us  is  good  enough  for  Latin  America  and  re- 
fuses to  deviate  in  the  least  from  his  standard 
product.  The  North  American  manufacturer 
may  think  it  very  foolish  for  a  Latin  American 
to  insist  on  cloth  of  ''vara"  width  instead  of 
the  standard  yard,  but  it's  a  most  important 
matter  in  a  country  where  no  one  ever  heard 
of  a  ''yard."  He  may  consider  it  childish  for 
the  natives  to  demand  an  ax,  machete  or  tool 
of  a  certain  peculiar  shape,  weight  or  pattern 
when  the  standard  is  far  superior;  but  the 
Latin  American  has  his  reasons,  he  is  con- 
servative and  he  wants  what  he  wants  when 
he  wants  it,  and  exactly  as  he  wants  it,  and 
if  the  North  American  won't  furnish  it  the 
European  will 

It  is  this  lack  of  cooperation,  this  refusal  to 
meet  the  local  demands,  that  has  prevented  us 
from  getting  a  great  deal  of  trade  and  we  must 
be  ready  and  willing  to  furnish  just  what  the 


86  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Latin  American  wants  and  not  try  to  force  our 
ideas  down  his  throat  if  we  are  to  succeed. 

But  even  if  we  take  the  trouble  to  study 
Latin  America  and  the  Latin  Americans,  if  we 
cast  aside  our  prejudices,  our  patronizing 
manners  and  our  erroneous  ideas;  if  we  learn 
to  pack  and  ship  our  goods  properly  and  meet 
the  Latin  Americans  in  the  matter  of  credits 
and  are  willing  to  furnish  them  what  they 
want;  even  if  we  revolutionize  our  consular 
system  and  possess  a  huge  merchant  marine, 
still,  unless  we  are  willing  to  adapt  ourselves 
to  Latin- American  conditions  and  to  abide  by 
their  customs  when  dealing  with  them,  we  can 
have  but  little  hope  of  securing  the  trade  we 
should.  Two  things  the  Latin  American  and 
the  Spaniard  will  not  change  and  these  are  his 
language  and  his  customs.  No  matter  how 
modernized  he  may  be,  no  matter  how  up  to 
date  his  country  may  become;  no  matter  how 
much  he  may  travel  or  how  many  tongues  he 
may  speak,  yet,  his  time-honored  customs  and 
his  beloved  Castilian  are  as  enduring  as  the 
everlasting  hills  and  as  unalterable  as  the  laws 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians.     Particularly  is 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  87 

this  true  of  his  business  ways  and  whoever  es- 
says to  deal  with  him  successfully  must  realize 
this  and  adapt  himself  to  conditions. 

In  Latin  America,  business  is  closely  inter- 
woven with  social  customs  and,  moreover,  the 
Latin  American,  be  he  merchant  prince  or 
barefoot  beggar,  is  a  gentleman  first,  last  and 
all  the  time,  for  he  has  never  acquired  our 
custom  of  being  a  gentleman  in  private  life  and 
a  boor  in  business  and  he  expects  others  to  be 
as  courteous  as  himself.  If  you  are  to  deal 
with  him  successfully,  and  wish  to  keep  his 
trade  and  his  confidence,  you  must  not  attempt 
to  push  your  business  or  make  it  most  impor- 
tant. You  should  call  on  him  as  though  for 
a  friendly  chat,  you  must  allow  him  to  con- 
sume an  hour  or  so  in  flowery,  complimentary 
Spanish  nothings;  you  must  be  prepared  to 
discuss  the  questions  of  the  day,  the  war,  the 
politics  of  your  country  and  the  places  you 
have  visited;  you  must  respond  in  kind  and 
you  must  curb  impatience  and  refrain  from 
mentioning  your  business  until  the  propitious 
moment  arrives.  Of  course  he  knows  you  have 
come  to  secure  his  orders,  and  he  knows  that 


88  GETTING  TOGETHER  \ 

you  know  that  he  knows  it,  but  the  ^^costumbre        i 
del  pais''  (custom  of  the  country)  is  a  most        I 
sacred  thing  and  must  be  observed,  and  two,        ' 
or  even  three,  visits  may  be  necessary  before        , 
the  real  subject  is  broached.     Of  course  you        I 
may  rush  in  with  a  curt  '*Good  morning,"  or        ! 
its  Spanish  equivalent,  you  may  fling  yourself        ! 
in  an  easy  chair  and  elevate  your  feet  on  the 
table,  you  may  whip  out  your  orderbooks,  your        j 
price  lists  and  your  catalogs  and  you  may  se-        j 
cure  his  orders;  but  if  you  do,  it  will  be  be-        ; 
cause  he  knows  it  is  to  his  own  advantage,  or        j 
because  he  has  no  choice,  and  he'll  secretly 
curse  you  for  an  ill-bred  *^ Yankee  pig"  and        I 
will   place   his   subsequent   orders   with   some        \ 
salesman  who  is  more  *  *  simpatico. "     If  you       | 
would  succeed  in  Latin  America  you  must  learn 
to  take   things  as  they  are,  you  must  learn 
politeness,  courtesy  and  patience;  you  must  be 
willing  to  act,  talk  and  think  **maiiana"  and 
you  must  adopt,  as  your  motto,  '^In  Eome  do 
as  the  Eomans  do." 

And  don't  delude  yourself  with  the  idea  that 
the  smiling,  courteous,  low-voiced,  innocent 
gentleman  is  a  fool  or  is  lacking  in  business 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  89 

acumen  or  shrewdness.  The  Latin  American, 
and  more  especially  the  Spaniard  in  business 
in  Latin  America,  is  the  smartest,  keenest, 
hardest-headed  business  man  in  the  world. 
He  may  be  scrupulously  honest,  his  spoken 
word  is  as  good  as  his  bond,  but  remember  the 
old  Spanish  proverb  that  ''It  takes  two  Jews 
to  beat  a  Greek  and  two  Greeks  to  beat  a 
Gellego.''  Not  that  he  will  *'do  you"  in  a  dis- 
honest or  underhand  way;  he  will  drive  the 
sharpest  bargain  possible  and  expects  you  to  do 
the  same,  and  he  wdll  feel  grieved,  and  robbed 
of  half  the  pleasure  of  the  transaction,  if  you 
don't  beat  him  down  or  up.  And  don't  try  to 
' 'put  anything  over  on  him. ' '  Beat  him  in  a  fair 
deal  and  he'll  have  no  ill  feelings  and  will 
appreciate  you  and  admire  you  the  more;  but 
work  off  an  underhand  trick  and,  sooner  or 
later,  he  will  repay  you  ten  times  over,  even 
though  he  smiles  and  treats  you  like  a  life- 
long friend  or  a  brother.  Spaniards  and  Latin 
Americans  are  born  diplomats  and  can  give 
our  cleverest  men  cards  and  spades  and  then 
beat  them  hands  down,  and  the  salesman  or 
firm  who  tries  to  cheat  them,  or  to  put  through 


90  GETTING  TOGETHER 

a  shady  deal  with  a  Latin- American  customer, 
might  as  well  abandon  his  hopes  of  success  at 
once.  You  may  do  it  once  but  not  the  second 
time  and  in  dealing  with  Latin  America  you 
will  invariably  find  that  honesty  is  not  only 
the  best,  but  the  only,  policy. 

All  these  matters  I  have  mentioned  were 
potent  factors  before  the  war,  but  with  their 
European  trade  cut  off,  the  Latin  Americans 
w^ere  compelled  to  take  what  they  could  get 
from  whoever  could  furnish  it.  No  doubt,  in 
good  time  they  would  have  become  accus- 
tomed to  our  ways,  they  would  have  managed 
to  meet  us  in  regard  to  credits,  they  would 
have  suffered  in  silence  from  losses  caused 
by  careless  packing,  they  might  even  hav^  over- 
looked the  boorish  ways  of  many  of  our  sales- 
men. 

But  unfortunately  much  of  the  headway  we 
were  making,  during  the  early  years  of  the  war, 
has  been  stopped  or  curtailed  by  our  own  entry 
into  the  conflict  and  our  war-time  rules  and 
regulations.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  criticize  our 
Administration  or  to  find  fault  with  the  vari- 
ous embargos  placed  on  exports  and  imports, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  91 

but  there  seems  to  have  been  a  very  short- 
sighted lack  of  discrimination  which  has  re- 
sulted in  a  setback  to  our  success  in  Latin 
America  which  will  be  very  difficult  to  re- 
trieve. As  long  as  ships  make  trips  between 
the  United  States  and  Latin  America  I  can- 
not see  any  valid  reason  for  preventing  them 
from  carrying  cargoes,  rather  than  to  sail  with 
almost  empty  holds,  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
true  conditions  were  known  when  some  of  our 
regulations  were  made.  Why,  for  example, 
should  the  embargo  against  the  exportation  of 
beans,  rice  and  flour  be  enforced  in  Panama 
when  there  was  such  an  oversupply  of  these 
foodstuffs  there  that  rice  and  beans  were  daily 
being  destroyed  because  they  were  full  of 
weevils?  More  important  than  such  matters, 
however,  is  our  embargo  on  the  exportation  of 
currency. 

There  never  was  a  time  when  the  develop- 
ment of  South  American  resources  was  as 
important,  both  from  a  public  and  private 
standpoint,  as  at  present.  Mines  which  could 
not  have  been  profitably  worked  before  the 
war  can  now  be  operated  at  great  profits,  and 


92  GETTING  TOGETHER 

many  of  the  minerals  of  South  America  are 
essential  to  our  success  in  the  war. 

Tungsten,  vanadium,  chromium,  molybdenum, 
platinum  and  many  other  rare  metals  are  of 
the  utmost  importance  and  are  found  in  most 
abundance  in  Latin  America,  and  many  of  the 
deposits  have  never  been  worked.  But  how 
can  these  be  developed,  how  can  the  metals  be 
shipped  to  us,  how  can  the  output  be  increased, 
if  we  are  not  allowed  to  take  out  the  money 
with  which  to  finance  them?  The  reply  of  our 
authorities  is  **get  bills  of  exchange";  but 
they  don^t  stop  to  realize,  or  don't  care  to, 
that  with  embargos  on  exports  and  imports, 
and  under  war  conditions,  bills  of  exchange 
would  be  prohibitive  in  their  rates  on  large 
sums. 

It  is  a  wise  plan  of  course  to  conserve  our 
currency  but  if  the  investment  of  that  cur- 
rency is  to  result  in  the  increase  of  essential 
war  materials  why  should  there  be  any  hesi- 
tation in  permitting  it  to  be  so  utilized?  Per- 
haps our  Government  has  reasons  of  its  own 
for  enforcing  such  drastic  rules  without  dis- 
crimination, but  whether  it  is  merely  an  arbi- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  93 

trary  ruling  carried  out  without  looking  into 
local  and  special  conditions  or  otherwise,  the 
result  in  a  tremendous  loss  of  opportunity 
which  can  never  be  regained,  and  unfairness 
to  many  of  the  Latin-American  countries. 

Latin  America  possesses  immense  supplies  of 
raw  materials,  in  minerals,  forest  products, 
foodstuffs,  etc.,  which  are  of  vital  importance 
to  us  during  the  war  and  the  output  of  which 
could  be  vastly  increased  by  North  American 
capital.  Moreover,  we  should  appreciate  the 
sentiment  which  Latin  America  has  shown  to- 
wards the  Allies  and  should  not  do  anything 
to  curtail  her  exports  and  imports  except  when 
strictest  necessity  compels  it.  Latin  America 
may  have  taken  but  little  active  part  in  the 
war,  but  those  countries  which  have  arrayed 
themselves  on  the  side  of  Democracy  have 
helped  our  cause  tremendously. 

They  have  interned  German  residents,  have 
seized  the  German  ships  in  their  ports,  have 
stamped  out  a  vast  amount  of  German  propa- 
ganda and  have  made  huge  sacrifices  in  so  do- 
ing, and  we  should  use  every  care  to  see  that 
they  do  not  suffer  any  more  than  possible  and 


94  GETTING  TOGETHER 

should  provide  commissions  of  competent,  im- 
partial men  familiar  with  Latin  America  and 
Latin- American  conditions,  to  pass  on  each  in- 
dividual case  and  with  authority  to  use  com- 
mon sense  and  discrimination  in  our  war-time 
dealings  with  our  Latin- American  allies. 

Conservation  and  increased  production  are 
our  watchwords  and  there  are  vast  opportuni- 
ties for  both  in  Latin  America,  while,  aside 
from  all  such  considerations,  is  the  fact  that 
we  now  have  an  unprecedented  opportunity  to 
build  up  a  more  lasting  trade,  a  more  intimate 
association,  a  greater  confidence,  and  a  truer 
understanding  with  Latin  America  than  ever 
before,  and  we  should  make  every  effort  to 
grasp  this  opportunity,  aside  from  actually 
jeopardizing  our  own  interests  and  those  of 
our  Allies  in  Europe. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  95 


CHAPTER  VI 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  past  we  have 
been  greatly  handicapped  in  our  relations  with 
Latin  America  through  lack  of  ships.  Prac- 
tically all  the  commerce  with  South  America 
has  been  carried  on  by  European  ships  and  it 
was  rare  indeed  to  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
flying  from  a  vessel  in  a  Latin- American  port. 
Most  of  the  ships  flew  the  British  or  German 
flags,  a  great  many  were  Spanish,  many  more 
were  French;  numberless  tramps  and  freight- 
ers flew  the  Norwegian  or  Danish  flags  and 
there  was  a  goodly  sprinkling  of  Dutch,  Swed- 
ish, Russian,  Brazilian  and  other  nations  rep- 
resented among  the  shipping.  To-day,  the 
British  ships  predominate;  American  vessels 
are  next  and  the  Japanese,  Chinese,  Peruvian, 
French  and  Spanish  are  coming  to  the  fore, 
while  the  Scandinavian  countries  still  abound. 
But  a  great  many  of  the  ships  flying  our  flag 


96  GETTING  TOGETHER 

are  not  strictly  American  vessels,  but  are 
British  ships  which  sought  safety  by  coming 
under  the  American  flag  after  the  war  broke 
out,  and  these  cannot  be  counted  as  American 
ships,  for  it  is  very  questionable  if  they  do 
not  exchange  Old  Glory  for  the  Union  Jack 
as  soon  as  peace  is  declared.  The  lines  which 
are  truly  American  are  still  few  and  their 
number  has  not  greatly  increased  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  The  Porto  Eico,  Ward, 
Red  ^*D,''  Grace,  Panama  Railway  and  a  few 
others  have  always  been  American,  but  the 
bulk  of  Latin-American  commerce  is  still  in 
the  hands  of  European  companies,  regardless 
of  the  flags  flown  by  their  vessels.  About  the 
only  change  that  the  war  has  made,  as  far  as 
shipping  is  concerned,  is  that  the  Germans, 
who  formerly  controlled  a  very  large  portion 
of  the  trade,  have  been  forced  from  the  seas. 
I  have  often  been  asked  why  the  German  lines 
had  such  a  hold  on  the  Latin- American  com- 
merce. In  the  first  place,  the  German  ships 
gave  better  service  than  any  others ;  they  main- 
tained their  schedules,  they  served  excellent 
meals,  they  were  clean  and  comfortable,  their 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  9T 

rates  for  freight  and  passengers  were  low  and, 
most  important  of  all,  perhaps,  they  visited 
practically  every  port  and  provided  such  good 
connections  that  the  traveler  could  go  from 
any  port  to  another  without  vexatious  delays 
and  roundabout  routes.  Any  other  line,  or 
lines,  which  would  provide  as  satisfactory  ser- 
vice could  secure  just  as  great  a  control  of 
Latin- American  commerce  and  perhaps,  after 
the  war,  the  British  or  American  lines  may  do 
this,  but  heretofore,  they  have  been  content  to 
run  when  and  where  they  chose,  their  rates 
have  been  high  and  their  service  and  cuisine 
none  too  good,  their  schedules  have  been  un- 
certain and  irregular  and  passengers  have 
been  subject  to  innumerable  petty  vexations 
and  annoyances.  Indeed,  the  majority  of  them 
have  appeared  to  think  it  a  great  favor  to  take 
passengers  at  all  and  most  of  them  have  con- 
sidered their  cargoes  as  of  far  greater  im- 
portance than  their  passengers.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  the  British  ships,  which  are 
primarily  cargo  boats,  for  outside  of  the 
Cuban  and  Porto  Eican  lines,  which  have  been 
exceptional   in    their    service,    few    American 


98  GETTING  TOGETHER 

ships  pretend  to  carry  on  a  regular  service 
with  Latin- American  ports.  And  when  I  say 
British  ships  I  include  those  which,  like  the 
United  Fruit  Company,  only  use  the  American 
flag  for  their  own  interests.  Indeed  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say  just  what  nation  really  controls 
these  ships.  They  are  manned  and  officered  by 
British,  they  fly  the  American  flag,  not  a  little 
of  their  stock  is  owned  by  Germans  and  their 
avowed  policy  is  to  curry  favor  with  the 
Latin-American  politicians,  even  if  American 
citizens  who  are  passengers  are  humiliated, 
annoyed  or  even  openly  insulted  thereby.  If 
there  ever  was  an  objectionable  trust  it  is  the 
Fruit  Company  for  they  have  their  fingers  in 
every  Latin-American  pie,  they  practically 
control  the  politics,  the  markets,  the  finances 
and  the  transportation  in  the  countries  where 
they  have  their  interests,  and  they  have  it  in 
their  power  to  do  just  about  as  they  please 
and  let  the  public  be  damned.  They  prate 
patriotism  and  food  conservation,  but  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  turn  profiteers  when  the  op- 
portunity offered  and  forced  the  price  of 
bananas  to  unheard  of  figures  just  when  the 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  99 

fruit  should  have  been  a  great  help  in  food 
conservation.  I  have  known  them  to  leave 
thousands  of  bunches  of  bananas  to  rot  on  the 
docks  at  Limon,  and  in  New  York  as  well,  just 
to  keep  the  price  up,  and  the  outsider  who  is 
so  foolish  as  to  attempt  to  compete  with  them, 
and  who  tries  to  raise  or  ship  fruit  inde- 
pendently, is  a  doomed  man.  Of  course  like 
every  other  trust  they  have  done  some  good. 
They  have  brought  several  Latin-American 
republics  from  penury  to  prosperity,  they  have 
established  hospitals,  cities,  wireless  stations, 
and  other  public  improvements;  they  have 
built  railways  and  improved  transportation; 
they  have  employed  thousands  of  men  and 
have  expended  millions  of  dollars,  but  every- 
thing they  have  done  has  been  for  their  own 
benefit  and  profit  and  their  service  is  the 
worst,  in  many  'ways,  of  any  line,  bar  none. 
If  we  are  to  build  up  a  large  commerce  with 
Latin  America  we  must  not  only  have  the 
ships,  but  we  must  also  show  consideration  to 
the  passengers  we  carry  and  to  the  shippers 
who  provide  the  cargoes,  and  we  must  be  able 
to  put  a  stop  to  shipping  trusts  and  the  dog 


100  GETTING  TOGETHER 

in  the  manger  attitude  which  now  prevails. 
As  long  as  such  things  are  allowed  to  exist 
there  can  be  no  true  freedom  of  the  seas  and 
a  monopoly  like  the  Fruit  Company  is  almost 
as  inimical  to  our  increased  trade  with  Latin 
America  and  to  the  hope  of  a  successful  mer- 
chant marine  in  South  American  waters  as  is 
Prussianism. 

But  provided  we  possess  the  vessels,  pro- 
vided we  can  guarantee  equal  chances  to  all 
lines,  can  we  secure  the  crews  and  officers  to 
man   our   ships?     Under  war  conditions  and 
with  the  salaries  now  paid  to  seamen  there  is 
little  'difficulty  on  the  score,  but  how  will  it  be         \ 
after  peace  comes  and  wages  fall  to  normal, 
or  even  to  near  normal!     Even  to-day,  many 
of   the    ships    flying    the    American   flag    are 
manned  and  officered  by  Europeans  and  while 
we  may  be  able  to  train  a  sufficient  army  of        j 
men  to  officer  our  ships,  can  we  induce  such         ' 
men  to  remain  navigators  at  ordinary  wages?        j 
The   normal  pay   of   sailors,   either   crew   or        i 
officers,  is  pitiably  small  and  any  man  who  has        [ 
enough   intelligence    to    become    a    competent        | 
officer  or  any  man  who  is  able  to  perform  the        j 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  101 

duties  of  a  sailor,  can  earn  far  better  wages 
ashore  and  under  far  better  conditions  and 
with  less  work  and  shorter  hours.  The  argu- 
ment is  often  advanced  that  as  we  had  a 
merchant  marine  and  merchant  mariners  in  the 
past  we  can  have  them  again,  but  our  merchant 
mariners  of  olden  times  lived  under  far  dif- 
ferent conditions  than  exist  at  present.  In 
those  days  our  greatest  population  was  along 
our  seaboard  and  the  bulk  of  our  business,  our 
manufactures  and  our  production  was  in  our 
Atlantic  ports.  As  a  result  a  certain  number 
of  men  found  the  sea  the  only  calling  open, 
but  with  the  rapid  development  of  our  coun- 
try, with  the  building  up  of  our  Western  States 
and  with  the  demand  for  labor,  men  gave  up 
the  sea  in  favor  of  other  occupations  and  their 
places  were  taken  by  the  cheaper  and  less  in- 
telligent seaport  natives  of  Europe.  It  is  a 
most  difficult  task  to  overcome  natural  condi- 
tions and  economically,  geographically  and  in 
many  other  ways  the  United  States  is  not  and 
never  will  be  a  great  maritime  nation  in  com- 
parison to  England,  Scandinavia,  France, 
HoUand  or  the  other  European  nations.     In 


102  GETTlKG  TOGETHER 

the  first  place  England  is  bound  to  be  a  great 
maritime  nation  from  the  very  fact  that  she 
is  insular  and  that  her  existence  depends  on 
her  commerce.  The  Scandinavians  are  a  race 
of  mariners  and  always  have  been,  while  the 
other  European  countries  which  possess  a  sea 
coast  turn  quite  naturally  to  commerce  as  they 
cannot  expand  in  any  other  direction  and  as 
there  is  always  an  oversupply  of  labor. 

Our  own  case  is  very  different.  To  be  sure 
we  have  a  tremendous  extent  of  coast  and  we 
have  innumerable  ports  and  our  export  trade 
is  immense,  but  we  are  self-supporting  or 
nearly  so,  our  country  is  vast,  there  is  plenty 
of  room  for  expansion,  and  labor  is  always  in 
demand  at  good  wages.  In  fact  we  are  a  na- 
tion of  producers,  not  of  sailors,  and  while  we 
can  produce  ships  as  well  and  far  more  rapidly 
than  any  other  country  in  the  world,  we  cannot 
hope  to  produce  seamen  in  the  same  way. 
Sailors  are  born  and  not  made  and  while,  under 
the  present  stress  of  circumstances,  we  may 
turn  out  officers  and  crews,  there  is  no  more 
chance  of  our  becoming  a  maritime  nation  be- 
cause of  this  than  of  our  becoming  a  military 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  103 

despotism  because  we  have  produced  a  marvel- 
ous army  in  such  a  miraculous  way. 

But  do  not  for  a  moment  think  I  am  belit- 
tling the  importance  of  a  merchant  marine, 
or  am  not  in  favor  of  sending  forth  our 
products  in  American  ships.  No  true  Ameri- 
can can  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating 
from  the  taffrail  or  peak  of  a  ship  or  steamer 
in  a  foreign  port  T\dthout  a  thrill  of  joy  and 
pride,  and  every  true  American  treasures  in 
his  heart  the  glorious  history  of  our  splendid 
clipper  ships  and  our  brave  seamen;  but  times 
have  changed  since  Yankee  ships  and  Yankee 
sailors  roamed  the  seven  seas  and  carried  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  to  every  land  and  made  the 
names  of  Salem,  Portland,  Boston,  New  Bed- 
ford, Nantucket,  New  Haven  and  countless 
other  New  England  towns  familiar  in  every 
port  of  the  world.  Let  us  have  ships  by  all 
means;  let  us  ship  to  the  utmost  corners  of 
the  universe  in  American  bottoms;  let  us  own 
the  greatest  merchant  marine  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  but  let  us  look  the  matter  squarely 
in  the  face  and  be  prepared  to  man  our  ships 
with  Europeans  if  need  be.     It  is  far  better 


104  GETTING  TOGETHER 

to  have  a  merchant  marine  manned  by  for- 
eigners than  to  have  no  merchant  marine  at 
all  and  it  really  doesn't  make  much  difference 
where  the  crews  were  born,  it's  the  flag  on  the 
ship  that  counts. 

But  even  assuming  that  our  proposed  mer- 
chant marine  did  not  eventuate;  presuming, 
for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  we  could  not 
find  men  for  our  ships  and  would  not  permit 
them  to  be  manned  by  foreigners,  how  would 
it  affect  our  trade  expansion  with  Latin 
America?  Personally  I  do  not  believe  it 
would  greatly  hamper  us.  Of  course  it  would 
be  preferable  to  carry  on  our  Latin- American 
trade  in  American  bottoms;  unquestionably  it 
would  do  much  to  cement  our  friendship,  to 
increase  our  influence,  to  further  our  interests 
and  to  build  up  our  prestige  in  South  Amer- 
ica; but  if  we  have  the  goods  the  Latin 
Americans  want,  if  we  can  convince  the 
Latin  Americans  that  it  is  to  their  advan- 
tage to  deal  with  us,  if  we  can  establish  a 
true  Pan-Americanism,  we  can  control  the 
Latin-American  trade  whether  our  goods  are 
carried  in  American,  British  or  any  other 
ships. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  105 

Production  is  the  chief  factor,  proper  repre- 
sentation is  almost  as  important;  honest  deal- 
ing is  essential  and  low  prices,  reasonable 
profits,  meeting  local  requirements,  proper 
packing  and  attention  to  details  all  follow. 
Add  to  these  a  willingness  to  give  the  people 
what  they  want,  a  sympathy  with  them,  a 
knowledge  of  their  ways,  lives  and  point  of 
view  and  a  true  and  whole-hearted  desire  to 
get  together  and  Latin- American  trade  and 
business  will  be  ours. 

But  trade  and  commerce  offer  by  no  means 
the  greatest  opportunities  in  Latin  America. 
Even  greater  rewards  await  us  in  the  develop- 
ment of  natural  resources  in  the  southern  re- 
publics. Very  little  of  the  entire  area  of 
South  and  Central  America  has  been  settled 
or  developed  and  there  are  vast  areas  in  South 
America  which  are  absolutely  unknown  and 
unexplored. 

The  war  has  done  much  to  draw  our  atten- 
tion to  the  resources  of  South  America  and 
unsuspected  possibilities  have  been  discov- 
ered. Without  certain  raw  materials  from 
Latin  America  we  would  have  been  sadly 
handicapped    in    our     struggle,     and     South 


106  GETTING  TOGETHER 

America  has  provided  ns  with  many  of  the 
sinews  of  war.  From  her  mines  we  have  drawn 
vast  stores  of  copper,  manganese,  tungsten, 
nitrates,  vanadium,  platinum,  molybdenum, 
tin,  and  many  other  valuable  and  rare  metals. 
From  her  forests  we  have  obtained  the  balsa, 
mahogany,  green-heart,  fustic,  cocobolo  and 
other  woods  necessary  for  our  airplanes,  our 
gunstocks,  our  ships  and  many  other  pur- 
poses; from  her  pampas  we  have  secured 
beef;  from  her  coastal  lands  has  come  enor- 
mous quantities  of  sugar;  our  ambulances,  our 
motor  trucks  and  our  automobiles  are  tired 
with  rubber  from  South  America.  Our  boys 
*^over  there*'  would  fare  badly  indeed  were 
their  supplies  of  South  American  coffee  and 
cocoa  cut  off  and  in  short,  we  have  to  thank 
South  America  for  much  that  she  has  made 
possible  in  our  progress  in  the  war.  And  yet 
not  one  minute  fraction  of  South  America's 
wealth  has  been  exploited,  not  one-thousandth 
of  her  resources  are  known  and  her  natural 
wealth  has  scarcely  been  scratched.  There  are 
undreamed  of  riches  in  her  mountains,  her 
forests  and  her  plains;  there  is  a  chance  for 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  107 

capital  and  development  such  as  the  world  lias 
never  known  and  the  true  awakening  of  Latin 
America,  and  the  greatest  profits  and  advan- 
tages to  us,  mil  come  when  we  look  beyond  the 
commerce  and  the  trade  and  go  forth  to  our 
southern  neighbors  with  Yankee  energy  and 
Yankee  capital  to  develop  and  exploit  their 
resources  for  their  benefit  and  ours. 


108  GETTING  TOGETHER 


CHAPTER  Vn 

It  might  be  pointed  out  that  we  are  not 
wholly  to  blame  for  our  relations  with  Latin 
America ;  that  we  should  not  be  expected  to  do 
everything  to  increase  the  business,  the  friend- 
ship and  the  mutual  confidence  of  the  three 
Americas.  It  may  be  argued  that,  in  many 
ways,  the  Latin  Americans  are  to  blame  for 
the  conditions  which  prevail,  that  they  have 
not  been  willing  to  meet  us  half  way,  have 
made  no  efforts  to  better  themselves  and  that 
they  cannot  guarantee  protection  and  fair 
treatment  to  foreigners,  and  that  they  dis- 
criminate against  North  Americans.  To  prove 
these  accusations,  attention  might  be  drawn 
to  a  recent  case  in  Panama,  when  a  United 
States  soldier  was  sentenced  to  twenty  years 
for  murdering  a  jitney  chauffeur  while  a  Pan- 
amanian woman  served  seven  days  for  killing 
two  Americans.  But  even  here  there  was  some 
reason,  for  the  soldier  murderer  killed  his  vie- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  109 

tim  in  cold  blood  for  the  purpose  of  stealing 
his  automobile  while  the  woman  claimed, 
whether  truthfully  or  not,  that  she  acted  in 
self  defense.  But  even  granting  the  injustice 
and  discrimination,  are  such  cases  not  largely 
due  to  our  own  actions!  What  efforts  did 
our  consular  officials  make  to  secure  justice? 
How  many  American  women  have  we  executed 
for  crimes  as  bad  as  those  for  which  foreign- 
born  men  have  been  legally  put  to  death 
or  lynched!  Or,  for  that  matter,  are  our 
own  laws  always  administered  so  justly  and 
with  such  impartiality  that  we  would  impose 
the  same  sentence  on  a  white  American  woman 
who  killed  two  colored  Panamanians,  and 
claimed  self  defense,  as  we  would  mete  out  to 
a  colored  Panamanian  who  murdered  a  white 
American  chauffeur  and  made  off  with  his  car! 
Theoretically  and  ethically  of  course  we  would, 
but  can  we  honestly  lay  claim  to  having 
reached  the  Utopian  ideal  where  justice  is  not 
influenced  by  race  and  sex!  It  is  far  easier 
to  see  the  faults  in  others  than  in  ourselves 
and  while  I  do  not  pretend  that  Latin  Ameri- 
cans have  not  at  times  shown  discriminations 


110  GETTING  TOGETHER 

against  our  citizens  and  have  not  been  gnilty 
of  gross  miscarriages  of  justice,  is  that  after 
all  any  excuse  for  looking  upon  them  all  as 
semi-savages  or  for  blaming  all  for  the  faults 
of  a  few?  And  my  claim  is,  that,  had  we  al- 
ways treated  the  Latin  Americans  with  justice, 
had  we  always  endeavored  to  win  their  friend- 
ship and  confidence  and  had  we  always  meted 
out  justice  to  those  of  our  citizens  who  vio- 
lated Latin- American  laws  we  w^ould  have  no 
cause  to  complain  of  any  discrimination 
against  us  nor  of  any  lurking  anti-American 
sentiments  on  the  part  of  our  southern  neigh- 
bors. 

But  admitting  that  there  are  occasional 
cases  where  there  is  rank  injustice  shown  to 
our  citizens  and  that,  under  certain  conditions, 
foreigners  are  not  protected  in  Latin  America, 
yet  the  idea  that  we  are  not  safe  in  Latin 
America  or  that  the  Latin  Americans  dis- 
criminate against  us  is,  as  a  whole,  erroneous 
and  without  foundation  and,  like  so  many  other 
things  relating  to  Latin  America,  should  be 
unlearned. 

Again,    take    for    example    the    question   of 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  111 

revolutions  and  their  bearing  on  the  question. 
This   has   perhaps,   been   the   greatest    single 
factor  in  frightening  our  capitalists  and  busi- 
ness men  out  of  Latin  America,  for  the  unstable 
conditions  of  some   of  the  governments,  and 
the    uncertainty    of    concessions    under    ever- 
changing    administrations,    have    had    a    tre- 
mendous influence  on  the  development  of  Latin 
America's  resources  and  business.    But  if  we 
look  into  this  matter  we  will  find  that  not  only 
has  this  hete  noire  been  tremendously  exag- 
gerated,   but    that    the    deplorable    conditions 
which  have  prevailed  were  not  due  to  the  Latin 
Americans  themselves  but  to  conditions  which 
they  could  not  control,  and  that  every  educated, 
intelligent  Latin  American  deplores  them  and 
is  fully  alive  to  the  necessity  of  stable,  honest 
government.     There  is  no  denying  that  insur- 
rections  and  revolutions  have   been  frequent 
and  numerous  and,  all  too  often,  the  so-called 
republics  have  been  despotisms  under  the  rule 
of  unprincipled  tyrants  who  did  not  hesitate 
to  abrogate  promises  and  agreements  to  suit 
their    own    ends.      Perhaps    it    is    no    exag- 
geration to  state  that  the  revolutionary  ten- 


112  GETTING  TOGETHER 

dency  of  the  Latin  Americans  has  been  their 
worst    fault,    their    greatest    curse    and    the 
chief  factor  in  keeping  them  poor,  and  their 
lands    undeveloped    and    backward.      But    the 
Latin  Americans,  as  a  whole,  cannot  be  too 
greatly    blamed    for    this    state    of    affairs. 
When  we  study  the  history  of  South  America; 
when  we  look  into  the  past  and  realize  the  con- 
ditions which  existed  before,  and  just  after, 
the   liberation   of   the   various   colonies    from 
Spain;  when  we  understand  the  complexity  of 
the   people,    their   temperaments,    their   char- 
acters and  their  traditions,  and  w^hen  we  know 
the  countries  intimatelv,  we  do  not  wonder  that 
they  have  been  torn  by  strife  and  bloodshed, 
that  they  have  been  turbulent  and  unstable,  that 
their  pockets  have  been  ruthlessly  picked  by 
unscrupulous  politicians  or  that  they  have,  as 
a  whole,  remained  behind  the  rest  of  the  world 
in    development,    progress    and    government. 
Eather  do  we  marvel  that  they  have  survived 
at  all,  that  their  people  have  not  reverted  to 
savagery  and  that  maiiy  of  the  republics  have 
gone  steadily  forw^ard  and  now  lead  the  world 
in  many  ways. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  113 

Cnished  beneath  the  yoke  of  Spain  (or 
Portugal),  overtaxed,  tyrannized;  with  no 
rights  of  their  own;  with  slavery  on  every 
hand;  impoverished  by  the  Crown  and  the 
Church,  the  people,  with  superhuman  heroism 
and  sacrifice,  wrought  their  independence  by 
a  series  of  bloody  battles  which  for  bravery, 
endurance  and  self-sacrifice  have  never  been 
excelled.  But  the  very  characteristics  which 
had  enabled  their  leaders  to  urge  the  people 
to  victory  despite  the  most  awful  hardships 
and  the  most  terrific  odds,  prevented  them  from 
establishing  peaceful,  orderly  governments 
after  the  wars  were  won.  Bolivar,  San  Martin 
and  the  other  generals  were  fanatical  patriots, 
but  arrogant,  conceited,  vindictive  and  cruel 
and  while  magnificent  soldiers  they  were  totally 
unfitted  for  the  duties  of  rulers.  Moreover,  the 
close  of  the  wars  against  Spain  found  the 
countries  overrun  with  bandits  and  independ- 
ent chieftains;  business  was  totally  dislocated, 
estates  had  been  destroyed  or  had  gone  to 
ruin;  whole  families  had  been  wiped  out  of 
existence,  towns  had  been  destroyed,  treasuries 
had  been  depleted  and  thousands  of  men,  who 


114  GETTING  TOGETHER 

had  been  engaged  in  active  service,  found  them- 
selves without  homes,  friends,  money  or  occu- 
pations. 

In  addition,  there  were  countless  factions,  in- 
numerable parties  and  no  end  of  individuals, 
no  two  of  whom  could  agree  as  to  what  they 
wanted,  and,  truth  to  tell,  they  didn't  know 
themselves.    There  were  the  old  Spanish  fami- 
lies who  were  still  loyal  to   the   Crown;  the 
Creole   Spaniards  who  looked  down  upon  all 
natives  not  of  pure  Castilian  blood,  and  who 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  racial  equality 
or  of  a  colored  or  Mestizo  ruler;  there  were 
the  natives  of  mixed,  colored  or  Indian  blood, 
and   finally,    the    pure    Indians    and   negroes. 
These  last  had  been  slaves,  or  little  better  than 
slaves,  and  many  still  were  retained  in  slavery. 
The  Mestizos  and  colored  mixtures  who  had 
hitherto  been  ground  down  almost  to  the  level 
of  beasts  found  themselves  free,  independent 
and  on  a  supposed  equality  with  the  whites, 
and,  as  a  natural  result,  there  were  intrigues, 
plots,  open  hostility  and  a  general  lack  of  peace 
and    coordination    everywhere.      To   maintain 
any  sort  of  order  and  to  afford  any  appearance 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  115 

of  safety  to  lives  and  property  the  rulers  were 
obliged  to  be  severe,  to  take  the  law  into  their 
own  hands  and  to  imprison  or  execute  of- 
fenders or  supposed  offenders  of  the  law  in  a 
most  summary,  and  often  secret,  manner. 
Such  a  course  not  only  tended  to  create  tyrants 
and  despots,  but  it  also  led  to  greater  discon- 
tent, to  further  intrigues  and  plots  and  to 
revolutionary  movements.  Then  quarrels  oc- 
curred between  the  various  republics,  wars 
ensued  and  the  people,  once  having  acquired 
the  spirit  of  warfare,  found  time  hanging 
heavily  on  their  hands  when  there  were  not 
some  hostilities  going  on.  In  theory,  the  idea 
of  the  republican  form  of  government  was 
ideal  and  promising;  but  with  the  preponder- 
ance of  the  population  consisting  of  ignorant, 
semi-savage  Indians  and  half-breeds,  true  re- 
publics were  impossible.  Aspirants  for  office 
soon  found  that  the  gullible  peons  were  excel- 
lent tools  for  their  purposes  and  could  be 
swayed  or  bribed,  while  the  peons  soon  found, 
that  once  in  power,  the  politicians  cared  not  the 
snap  of  their  fingers  for  those  who  had  aided 
them  and,  as  a  result,  they  took  the  only  means 


116  GETTING  TOGETHER 

available  and  started  revolutions  to  enforce 
their  demands.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact  it 
usually  made  no  great  difference  to  the  peon 
who  he  was  fighting  for.  If  he  was  fairly  well 
fed  and  clad  and  had  a  few  centavos  to  spare 
he  was  happy  and  quite  willing  to  fight  anyone 
or  everyone  for  the  man  or  party  that  clothed 
and  fed  him.  Soon,  too,  the  rulers  and  their 
partizans  found  that  their  tenure  of  office  was 
liable  to  be  brief  and,  deciding  to  make  hay 
while  the  sun  shone,  robbed  and  fleeced  the 
people  right  and  left  and,  when  the  time  came, 
retired  with  a  goodly  sum  tucked  away  for 
future  needs. 

It  was  this  chaotic,  ever-changing  state  of 
affairs  which  bred  the  revolutionary  tendency 
of  the  Latin  American,  a  tendency  which  found 
ready  growth  in  the  Latin- American  character 
with  its  complexity  of  Spanish,  Indian  and 
African  blood  and  in  which  the  courtesy  and 
gallantry  of  generations  of  Castilian  grandees 
struggled  with  the  barbarity  and  savagery  of 
naked  Indian  and  primitive  African. 

And  that  the  revolutionary  tendency  still 
lingers,  that  the  inheritance  of  intrigue,  treach- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  117 

ery  and  public  dishonesty  still  persists,  is  not 
surprising,  for  such  things  die  hard,  especially 
when  they  operate  to  one's  personal  benefit. 
Moreover,  to  the  Latin-American  mind,  such 
matters  as  insurrections,  unstable  govern- 
ments, dishonest  politicians  and  even  despotic 
tyrants  do  not  appear  in  the  same  light  as  they 
do  to  our  minds.  Indeed,  the  average  Latin 
American  seems  to  think  that  it  is  part  of  the 
politician's  business  to  make  all  he  can  while 
he  can,  regardless  of  how  he  does  it,  and  his 
ancestors — both  Spanish  and  Indian — were  so 
long  taught  that  might  makes  right  that  it 
doesn't  appear  to  him  as  wrong,  and  he  also 
finds  relief  from  his  too  effervescent  spirits  in 
insurrections. 

It  is  useless  to  compare  Latin  Ajnerica  and 
Latin- American  conditions  with  our  own.  In 
the  first  place,  the  Latin  temperament,  the 
Latin  point  of  view  and  the  Latin  code  of 
morality  is  totally  distinct  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  Still  more  distinct  from  either  is  the 
character,  the  temperament,  the  point  of  view 
and  the  tradition  of  the  Indian,  while  still  dif- 
ferent from  all  is  the  Negro  character.    Into 


118  GETTING  TOGETHER 

the  melting  pot  of  Latin  America   all  these 
contradictory    and   variable    units   have    been 
cast,  to  come  forth,  a  new  alloy  which  forms  the 
bulk   of   Latin   Americans.     Were   the   Latin 
Americans   of   onr   race;   had   the    conditions 
under  which  they  and  their  countries  have  been 
evolved  been  the  same  or  even  similar  to  ours, 
then,  perhaps,  we  might  compare  them  to  our- 
selves ;  but  even  then,  there  would  be  the  great 
factor  of  climate  and  environment  to  consider, 
and  this  has  a  tremendous  influence  upon  de- 
velopment.   But  supposing  that  conditions  had 
been  the  same,  would  we  have  done  better?    If, 
after  our  revolution,  our  states  had  quarreled 
among  themselves;  if  the  Tories  had  plotted 
to  overthrow  our  Colonial  government  and  to 
reestablish  the   British   rule;   if   we   had   at- 
tempted to   declare   the   Indians   and  colored 
people  equals;  if  we  had  found  Washington  a 
tyrannical  vindictive  despot,  would  our  infant 
republic  have  grown  to  manhood  in  peace  and 
prosperity  as  it  did? 

But  to  get  back  to  the  present:  most  of  the 
stories  of  Latin- American  revolutions,  of  tyran- 
nical rulers,  of  wholesale  robbery  by  politicians. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  119 

of  maltreatment  of  foreigners  and  of  uncer- 
tainty of  concessions  are  of  the  past.  With  few 
exceptions  life  and  property  are  just  as  safe  and 
secure  in  Latin  America  as  anywhere  else,  and 
in  many  of  the  countries,  the  people  have 
almost  forgotten  what  a  revolution  is  like, 
while  in  others  the  revolutions  that  have  oc- 
curred have  been  bloodless  and  not  one-half 
as  exciting  as  our  regular  elections.  And  if 
the  Latin  Americans  see  fit  to  appoint  their 
executives  in  their  own  way  what  business  is 
it  of  ours  ?  No  doubt  many  countries  think  our 
ways  as  strange,  as  wrong  and  as  subject  to 
criticism  as  we  think  the  Latin  Americans '  and 
yet  we  certainly  would  resent  their  interference. 
As  long  as  the  lives  and  properties  of  our  citi- 
zens are  not  molested  I  cannot  see  any  valid 
excuse  for  trying  to  force  Latin  Americans  to 
our  methods  and  ways,  and  there  are  mighty 
few  instances  of  American  lives  or  property 
being  injured  without  good  and  sufficient  rea- 
son. All  too  often,  we  hear  but  one  side  of  the 
story  and  form  our  judgments  hastily  and  from 
a  prejudiced  viewpoint  when,  were  we  to  inves- 
tigate, we  would  find  that  were  the  cases  re- 


120  GETTING  TOGETHER 

versed  and  a  Latin  American  had  done  the 
same  things  in  the  States  he  would  have  been 
treated  with  even  greater  severity. 

But,  most  of  all,  we  must  ever  bear  in  mind 
that    the   Latin   American    is    temperamental, 
emotional,  passionate,  quick  tempered  and  spec- 
tacular, and  that  to  him  a  thing  may  seem  per- 
fectly right  and  proper  which  to  us  appears 
grossly  wrong  and  vice  versa.     Anyhow,  we 
are  not  going  to  alter  the  Latin- American  tem- 
perament, or  the  Latin- American  point  of  view, 
by  words  or  deeds,  any  more  than  he  is  going  to 
alter  ours,  and  if  we  expect  to  get  on  with  our 
southern  neighbors  and  secure  their  trade  we 
must  take  things  as  they  are  and  make  the  best 
of  them.    Moreover,  we  must  remember  that  the 
advantages  accruing  to  us  from  a  better  under- 
standing and  a  larger  trade  with  Latin  America 
are  far  greater  than  the  benefits  which  the  Latin 
Americans  will  receive.    It  is  to  our  own  inter- 
ests to  do  all  we  can,  but  there  is  no  denying 
the  fact  that  there  is  much  which  the  Latin 
Americans  must  also  do.    If  they  want  us  to 
go  to  their  lands  and  invest  capital  and  de- 
velop their  resources,  if  they  want  us  to  fur- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  121 

tlier  tlieir  interests  and  be  with  them,  they 
mnst  do  their  part. 

They  mnst  learn  that  foreigners,  and  North 
Americans  in  particular,  love  comforts  and 
luxuries  which  do  not  appeal  to  Latin  Ameri- 
cans, and  they  must  provide  hotels  or  stopping 
places  wherein  the  traveler  may  be  comfort- 
able at  least.  They  must  be  willing  to  clean 
and  sanitize  their  towns  and  cities,  they  must 
be  willing  to  sacrifice  certain  prejudices  and 
customs  in  accord  with  the  ideas  of  the  rest  of 
the  world;  they  must  afford  us  the  same  oppor- 
tunities for  business,  for  trade,  for  investments 
and  for  development  as  are  possessed  by  their 
own  citizens,  and  they  must  be  one  with  us  in 
stamping  Germanism  from  the  civilized  world. 
Moreover,  for  their  own  benefit  as  well  as  ours, 
they  must  establish  more  schools  and  must  im- 
prove those  they  have ;  they  must  be  willing  to 
give  us  concessions  to  establish  railways,  steam- 
ship lines  and  other  means  of  transportation; 
they  must  keep  in  touch  with  the  outside  world 
and  must  broaden  their  ideas  and  they  must 
overcome  racial  and  religious  prejudice  just  as 
much  as  we  must  throw  aside  ours.    Far  too 


122  GETTING  TOGETHER 

many  of  tlie  Latin  Americans,  especially  in  the 
ontlying  districts,  live  in  the  past  and  think 
as  did  their  forefathers  three  centuries  ago. 
They  have  never  learned  that  the  days  of  the 
Inquisition  are  over;  they  look  upon  a  Protes- 
tant as  beyond  the  pale  of  law  or  consideration, 
and,  to  them,  every  foreigner  is  an  object  of 
suspicion  and  distrust.  They  are  steeped  in 
superstition  and  are  fanatical  in  their  religious 
and  racial  antipathy  to  all  others,  and  they  are 
still  as  completely  under  the  rule  and  thumb  of 
the  Church  as  ever.  Lack  of  transportation  has 
kept  many  portions  of  Latin  America  com- 
pletely isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  but 
with  railways  and  river  steamers  all  this  will 
be  changed.  One  of  the  prime  necessities,  one 
of  the  first  things  to  be  done  in  establishing 
better  relations  with  Latin  America  is  to  de- 
velop the  transportation  systems  of  South 
America,  and  to  do  this,  let  both  the  North  and 
South  Americans  work  shoulder  to  shoulder. 
Perhaps  no  other  factor  has  been  so  detri- 
mental to  Latin  America  as  the  difficulties  of 
transportation,  and  to  us  this  is  a  most  vital 
matter.       Without     transportation     facilities 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  123 

South  America  cannot  expand,  she  cannot  de- 
velop and  she  cannot  export  her  products,  and 
without  it,  we  cannot  reach  the  interior  people 
and  markets,  we  cannot  secure  the  raw  goods 
and  we  cannot  develop  the  trade  we  should. 
The  majority  of  Latin  Americans  keenly  realize 
this  and  they  are  willing  to  give  us  every  op- 
portunity to  remedy  it,  for  they  are  not  short- 
sighted nor  fools,  no  matter  what  their  other 
faults  may  be.  The  Latin  American  may  lack 
initiative,  or  may  be  rather  inclined  to  let 
things  go  as  they  are  and  to  be  content  with 
the  ways  of  his  ancestors,  but  once  started  in 
the  right  way,  he  goes  into  it  as  fervently  as 
he  went  into  the  wars  for  his  independence,  and 
he  certainly  knows  a  good  thing  when  he  sees  it. 
The  Latin  Americans  are  ready  and  waiting 
for  us,  they  are  willing  to  meet  us  more  than 
half  way;  they  have  goods  we  want  and  must 
have,  and  we  have  goods  to  sell  them  which 
they  require.  The  Panama  Canal  has  linked 
the  two  oceans,  it  has  cut  freights  and  long 
voyages  in  half,  it  has  brought  the  two  Amer- 
icas closer  together  than  ever  before,  and  the 
war  has,  for  the  time  at  least,  driven  European 


124  GETTING  TOGETHER 

competition  from  Latin  America.  Now  is  the 
time  of  all  times  to  seize  the  opportunity  pre- 
sented us.  The  Latin  Americans  are  willing  to 
do  their  part,  they  are  anxious  for  our  friend- 
ship, confidence  and  business.  If  we  are  in 
earnest,  if  we  want  the  South  American  trade, 
if  all  our  talk  of  Pan  Americanism,  good  will 
and  mutual  interests  has  been  sincere;  then  let 
us  clasp  hands  with  our  southern  neighbors  in 
true  friendship,  and  forgetting  all  differences, 
unite  all  the  republics  of  the  New  World  in  an 
inseparable,  enduring  bond  by  making  our 
motto  **A11  America  for  all  Americans." 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  125 


APPENDIX* 

Latin-American  countries,  including  the 
Guianas  and  the  Caribbean  Republics,  alpha- 
betically arranged  with  the  most  important 
facts  and  figures  regarding  them. 


ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC 

Area. — 1,112,684  square  miles.  About  equal  to 
all  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi with  the  addition  of  the  first  tier 
of  States  west  of  it.  Six  times  the  area 
of  Spain,  Germany  or  France.  Ten  times 
the  size  of  Great  Britain  or  Italy. 

♦  The  statistics  given  are  the  best  obtainable,  but  in  many  in- 
stances they  may  be  incorrect.  In  some  cases  no  official  censuses  nor 
reports  have  been  made  for  several  years;  in  others,  such  figures 
are  merely  estimates,  while  in  a  few,  no  data  could  be  secured. 
Moreover,  great  changes  in  exports  and  imports,  in  comparative 
values  and  in  leading  products  have  taken  place  since  the  war. 


126  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Chief  Exports. — ^Animals,  beef  and  hides;  agri- 
cultural products;  lumber  and  timber; 
minerals;  products  of  fisheries  and  the 
chase. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahovii  $500,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— About  $200,000,000. 

Population. — About  9,000,000  of  whom  about 
575,000  are  foreigners. 

Capital. — Buenos  Aires  with  about  1,700,000  in- 
habitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Argentinian,  the  standard  being 
the  gold  peso  equal  to  $0,965  U.  S.  The 
common  paper  peso  in  circulation  is  worth 
approximately  $0.4246  U.  S. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  system. 

Physical  Chakacters 

Argentine  is  very  largely  a  fairly  level  coun- 
try of  vast  plains  or  pampas;  but  it  rises  to- 
wards the  west  to  the  Andes,  the  highest  point 
of  which,  and  the  highest  peak  in  the  New 
World,  is  Mount  Aconcagua,  23,300  feet,  on 
Argentinian    territory.      Towards    the    north 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  127 

there  are  heavily  wooded  areas,  while  in  the 
south  is  the  region  of  old  Patagonia  which,  in- 
stead of  being  sterile  and  barren,  \s  well 
adapted  for  grazing  and  farming. 

0 

Climate 

The  climate  is  generally  temperate;  but  in 
the  northern  portions  of  the  Republic,  which 
are  within  the  tropics,  it  is  hot,  while  the  south- 
ern extremity  is  cold.  The  great  central  plains 
have  a  climate  very  similar  to  our  Southwest- 
ern States,  but  less  severe  in  winter,  while  the 
areas  devoted  to  sugar  and  grape  cultivation 
possess  a  climate  of  perpetual  spring. 

Government 

One  of  the  five  American  republics  which 
have  adopted  the  federal  form  of  government, 
the  others  being  the  United  States,  Brazil, 
Mexico  and  Venezuela. 

Army  and  Navy 

The  peace  strength  of  the  standing  army  is 
22,000   men.     Military   service   is   compulsory 


128  GETTING  TOGETHER 

from  the  twentieth  to  the  forty-fifth  year,  with 
one  year  of  active  service  as  a  rule.  The  Na- 
tional Guard  is  composed  of  all  citizens  be- 
tween 30  and  40  years;  the  Territorial  Guard 
of  those  between  40  and  45  years  and  mobilized 
only  in  case  of  war.  The  war  strength  of  the 
army  is  estimated  at  260,000  men.  The  navy 
consists  of  approximately  68  vessels  of  various 
kinds  in  addition  to  the  ^^Rivadavia'^  of  28,000 
tons  and  its  sister  ship  the  ** Moreno'^  both 
built  in  the  United  States.  The  personnel  of 
the  navy  numbers  8,272,  with  a  naval  reserve 
of  11,411. 

Tkanspoktation,  Etc. 

Total  length  of  railways  about  22,000  miles. 
Argentina  thus  stands  ninth  among  the  world's 
nations  in  railway  mileage  and  it  is  possible 
to  travel  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  to  Buenos  Aires 
and  hence  across  the  Andes  to  the  Pacific  by 
railway.  There  are  also  over  43,000  miles  of 
telegraph  lines  and  over  twenty  wireless  sta- 
tions in  the  Republic,  Argentina  being  the  first 
country  in  South  America  to  adopt  wireless 
telegraphy  in  1903. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  129 

Education 

Education  is  very  well  advanced  in  the 
Argentine,  primary  instruction  being  compul- 
sory between  the  ages  of  6  and  14  years  and, 
in  addition,  there  are  numerous  higher  schools 
and  secondary  colleges,  besides  special  schools 
of  science,  agriculture,  etc.,  as  well  as  five 
splendid  universities  and  seventeen  normal 
schools ;  schools  of  mines,  schools  for  technical 
training,  professional  schools,  military  and 
medical  colleges,  etc.  About  12  per  cent  of 
Argentina's  total  annual  expenditures  are  de- 
voted to  education. 

Resources  and  Industries 

Argentina  is  primarily  an  agricultural  coun- 
try for  more  than  one-third  of  its  entire  area 
is  arable;  another  third  is  adapted  to  cattle 
raising  and  the  remainder  is  covered  with 
forests,  lakes,  mountains  or  cities,  or  is  barren 
and  unproductive.  In  1904  over  26,000,000 
acres  were  under  cultivation.  The  principal 
products  are  wheat,  grains,  sugar,  wines,  live 


130  GETTING  TOGETHER 

stock,  dairy  products,  gold,  silver,  copper, 
borax,  tungsten  and  petroleum.  The  principal 
industries  are  related  to  the  grain  and  cattle 
industries  such  as  freezing,  chilling  and  can- 
ning plants;  packing  plants,  breweries,  furni- 
ture and  shoe  factories,  tanneries,  etc. 

BOLIVIA 

Area. — About  708,195  square  miles.  Nearly 
three  times  the  size  of  Texas.  Six  times 
as  large  as  the  combined  areas  of  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware. 

Chief  Exports. — Tin,  silver,  copper,  bismuth, 
zinc,  lead,  gold,  tungsten,  rubber,  cacao, 
tobacco,  sugar,  coca,  quinine,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— About  $37,132,037. 

Value  of  Imports.— About  $8,804,081. 

Population.— (1915)  2,267,935. 

Capital. — La  Paz  with  a  population  of  82,000. 

Language. — Sp  ani  sh. 

Currency. — Bolivian,  the  standard  being  the 
Boliviano  of  100  centavos  and  equal  to 
about  $0,389  U.  S.  currency. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  131 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  system  as 
standard,  but  Spanish  ^^Vara"  (32.91 
inches),  and  "Arroba'^  (25.36  lbs)  in  com- 
mon use. 

Physical  Characters 

The  most  noteworthy  feature  of  Bolivia's 
topography  is  the  great  central  plateau  which 
extends  over  500  miles  in  length  at  an  average 
altitude  of  12,000  feet  above  the  sea  and  which 
lies  between  the  two  great  Andean  chains  which 
traverse  the  country  from  north  to  south* 
Other  mountains  traverse  the  country  in  all 
directions,  while  three  of  the  highest  peaks  in 
the  western  hemisphere — Illampu,  Illimani  and 
Sajama — are  witliin  the  boundaries  of  the  Re- 
public. There  are  many  navigable  rivers,  the 
combined  length  of  these  being  over  12,000 
miles. 

Climate 

Owing  to  the  great  difference  in  altitude  be- 
tween the  lowlands  of  the  Amazon  basin  and 


1S2  GETTING  TOGETHER 

the  Andean  regions  there  is  a  great  variation 
in  climate.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  low- 
lands is  about  74°  F.  while  that  of  the  plateaus 
is  but  50°  F.  There  are  well  defined  wet  and 
dry  seasons,  the  rainy  season  being  from  De- 
cember to  May.  The  climate  on  the  high 
plateaus  is  cool,  healthful  and  invigorating,  al- 
though many  northerners  cannot  withstand  the 
rarefied  atmosphere  of  the  great  elevation. 

GOVEKNMENT 

Eepresentative  Eepublican  with  three  dis- 
tinct and  coordinate  branches — legislative,  ex- 
ecutive and  judiciaL  The  President  is  elected 
for  a  term  of  four  years. 

Army  and  Navy 

There  is  a  standing  army  of  4600  men  and 
officers.  Military  service  is  compulsory,  all 
citizens  between  the  ages  of  20  and  50  years 
being  compelled  to  serve  first  in  the  regular 
and  later  in  the  reserve  forces.  As  Bolivia  has 
no  sea  coast  there  is  no  navy. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  133 

Transportation,  Etc. 

About  840  miles  of  railway  are  in  operation 
and  some  376  more  are  in  course  of  construc- 
tion, while  about  2000  more  miles  are  pro- 
jected. The  chief  line  is  the  Antofogasta  and 
Bolivia  Railway  from  Antofogasta,  Chile,  to 
Ollague  on  the  frontier  and  thence  to  Oruro, 
where  it  connects  with  the  Bolivia  Railway 
which  continues  to  Viacha  at  the  junction  of 
the  Guaqui  &  La  Paz  Railway,  thus  forming  a 
through  route  to  La  Paz,  a  total  distance  of 
719  miles,  which  is  through  some  of  the  finest 
mountain  scenery  in  the  world.  The  main  line 
is  carried  to  a  height  of  13,000  feet  above  the 
sea  and  a  branch  line  reaches  an  altitude  of 
15,809  feet.  A  regular  line  of  steamers  is 
maintained  on  Lake  Titicaca,  situated  at  an 
altitude  of  12,900  feet,  and  which  has  an  area 
of  4000  square  miles,  and  is  the  highest  navi- 
gated lake  in  the  world.  Bolivia  also  possesses 
a  network  of  rivers  which  afford  excellent  com- 
munication and  transportation  facilities,  the 
total  length  of  navigable  streams  being  about 
12,000  miles.    Interior  travel,  especially  in  the 


134  GETTING  TOGETHER 

mountainous  districts,  is  mainly  by  mule  back 
or  llamas.  There  are  about  4259  miles  of 
telegraph  lines;  several  wireless  stations  and 
extensive  telephone  systems. 

Education 

Public  instruction  is  compulsory  beginning 
with  the  6th  year  and  there  are  1265  primary 
schools  with  an  attendance  of  nearly  60,000 
pupils.  For  secondary  instruction  there  are 
three  schools  at  Chuquisaca,  ^ve  in  La  Paz,  two 
in  Cochabamba  and  one  each  at  Potosi,  Oruro, 
Santa  Cruz,  Tarija  and  Trinidad.  There  are 
universities  at  La  Paz  and  Chuquisaca ;  normal 
schools  at  Sucre,  a  school  of  agriculture,  a  na- 
tional institute  of  commerce  at  La  Paz;  the 
national  institute  of  languages  at  Potosi;  the 
school  of  agronomy  and  veterinary  surgery  at 
Cochabamba;  the  schools  of  mines,  conserva- 
tory of  music,  academy  of  drawing  and  paint- 
ing ;  the  school  of  arts  and  crafts,  the  school  of 
dressmaking,  etc.  Whenever  considered  advis- 
able by  the  Government  students  of  particular 
merit  are  sent  abroad  to  continue  their  educa- 
tion at  Government  expense. 


I 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  135 

Kesoueces  and  Industeies 

Althougli  Bolivia  is  rich  in  agricultural  and 
forest  products  yet  her  chief  wealth  is  in  her 
minerals.  Nearly  all  the  known  metals  occur 
in  the  Republic  and  from  the  earliest  days  the 
country  has  been  famous  for  its  gold  and  silver 
mines.  The  annual  gold  production  is  valued 
at  about  $349,200,  and  for  years  Bolivia  was 
third  among  the  silver  countries  of  the  world, 
but  her  production  of  the  baser  metals  is  far 
more  valuable  than  the  silver  and  gold  output. 
The  Bolivian  tin,  copper  and  bismuth  mines 
are  the  richest  in  the  world.  Bolivia  now  pro- 
duces about  one-quarter  of  the  total  tin  output 
of  the  world  and  in  1915  her  output  of  bismuth 
amounted  to  663  tons.  Of  recent  years  tung- 
sten and  other  rare  metals  have  added  greatly 
to  Bolivia's  wealth.  Next  to  her  metals,  rubber 
is  the  chief  product  of  the  Republic,  the  annual 
export  value  in  recent  years  amounting  to  over 
$6,000,000.  Another  most  valuable  product  is 
coca,  from  which  cocaine  is  extracted,  and 
coffee  and  cacao  are  also  grown  and  exported 
in  large  quantities.     Llamas,  sheep  and  cattle 


136  GETTING  TOGETHER 

are  raised  extensively;  cotton  is  becoming  re- 
munerative and  considerable  upland  rice  is 
grown,  as  is  wheat  and  many  vegetables. 
There  are  several  breweries  and  a  shoe  factory 
in  the  Republic,  and  in  addition,  there  are 
numerous  minor  industries. 


BRAZIL 

'Area, — Over  3,292,000  square  miles  or  a  trifle 
less  than  the  entire  United  States  with 
Alaska  and  over  200,000  square  miles 
larger  than  the  United  States  without 
Alaska.  Larger  than  the  whole  of  Euro- 
pean Russia. 

Chief  Exports. — Coffee,  rubber,  cacao,  rice, 
cotton,  tobacco,  cabinet  and  dye  woods, 
diamonds,  gold,  manganese  and  rare 
metals.    Hides,  skins,  beef,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— (1915)  $257,176,851  divided 
as  follows: 

Animals  and  animal  products . .  $20,656,596 
Minerals  and  mineral  products  5,697,197 
Vegetable    products 230,823,058 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  137 

Value  of  imports.— {1915)  $146,082,483  divided 
as  follows: 

Live  animals $208,010 

Primary  materials,  etc 38,522,588 

Manufactures 52,407,225 

Foodstuffs 54,944,660 

Popiilatio7t.—Ahout  24,000,000,  including  500,- 
000  aborigines;  over  400,000  Germans; 
1,500,000  Italians  and  about  400,000  Span- 
iards. 

Capital. — Rio  de  Janeiro  with  about  1,500,000 
inhabitants.  There  are  twenty  cities  each 
with  a  population  of  over  200,000. 

Language. — Portuguese. 

Currency. — Brazilian,  based  on  the  unit  mil- 
reis  which  is  written  1$000.  The  gold  mil- 
reis  is  equal  to  $0,546  United  States  cur- 
rency and  is  the  unit  used  in  financial 
reports  and  foreign  exchange.  The  ordi- 
nary currency  is  the  paper  milreis  of  a 
nominal  value  of  16  pence  British  or  $0.32 
U.  S.  A  ^^Conto''  is  1000  milreis  and  has 
a  value  of  $546  in  gold  or  about  $320  in 
paper. 


138  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  as  standard, 
but  the  Portuguese  '^  Libra''  of  1012 
pounds  and  the  '^Arroba''  of  32.38  pounds 
are  in  use. 

Physical  Chaeacteks 

Eoughly,  the  surface  of  Brazil  may  be  divided 
into  two  principal  regions;  that  of  the  east  and 
central  parts  being  generally  high,  while  the 
northern  and  western  portions  are  mainly  ex- 
tensive plains  and  valleys. 

The  central  plateau,  which  covers  nearly  half 
the  entire  area,  is  from  1600  to  3200  feet  above 
sea  level.  North  of  this  is  the  vast  Valley  of 
the  Amazon  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Peruvian  Andes  and  drained  by  the  largest 
river  in  the  world,  with  a  length  of  over  3850 
miles  and  with  more  than  200  tributary  streams, 
one  hundred  of  which  are  navigable,  and  which 
drain  an  area  of  over  800,000  square  miles. 
Although  not  a  mountainous  country  compared 
to  the  Andean  republics,  yet  there  are  many 
lofty  ranges  in  Brazil;  peaks  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  country  reaching  an  altitude  of 
nearly  10,000  feet. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  139 

Climate 

Although  entirely  within  the  tropical  and 
temperate  zones  the  climate  of  Brazil,  owing 
to  its  physical  characters  and  its  enormous 
area,  is  extremely  diversified.  The  tropical 
portions,  although  lying  under,  and  close  to  the 
geographical  equator,  are  in  reality  below  the 
thermal  equator,  or  line  of  extreme  heat  (which 
runs  through  Central  America),  while  the  vast 
river  system  and  numerous  elevated  lands 
modify  the  climate  so  that  in  most  places  it  is 
pleasant  and  healthful.  But  between  the  north- 
em  boundary  of  about  5°  north  of  the  equator 
and  its  southern  extremity  in  south  latitude 
33°  every  variety  of  climate  may  be  found  ex- 
cept extreme  cold.  Average  annual  tempera- 
ture at  Eio  is  about  70°  F.;  the  rainfall  about 
59  inches.  In  many  places  in  the  tropical  dis- 
tricts the  rainfall  is  excessive,  while  in  other 
parts  long  droughts  are  common.  On  the  north- 
em  lowlands  and  certain  portions  of  the  coast 
the  heat  is  often  oppressive. 


140  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Government 

The  Constitution,  adopted  Feb.  24th,  1891, 
provides  that  Brazil  is  a  federal  union  of  twenty 
states,  a  Federal  District  and  the  Territory  of 
Acre. 

Army  and  Navy 

The  peace  strength  of  the  army  varies,  but  is 
about  32,000  men.  Military  service  is  compul- 
sory from  the  twenty-first  to  the  forty-fourth 
year,  and  hence  the  war  strength  of  the  country 
exceeds  300,000  men.  The  navy  consists  of  57 
vessels,  with  a  complement  of  over  13,000  men* 

Eailways,  Telegraphs,  etc. 

There  were  over  21,394  miles  of  federal  tele- 
graph lines  in  operation  in  Brazil  in  1914,  and 
in  addition  there  were  approximately  40,000 
telephones  with  over  110,360  miles  of  wires. 
There  are  also  numerous  wireless  stations,  that 
at  Belem  (Para)  being  able  to  communicate 
directly  with  the  United  States,  its  range  being 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  141 

over  4000  miles.  The  total  railway  mileage  is 
about  14,595,  and  one  may  travel  by  rail  from 
Kio  directly  to  Montevideo,  a  total  distance  of 
1967  miles. 

The  need  of  railways  is  not  felt  so  greatly  in 
Brazil  as  in  many  countries,  owing  to  her  im- 
mense system  of  natural  waterways.  The 
Amazon  is  navigable  for  nearly  its  entire 
length,  and  ocean  steamships  run  regularly  to 
Manaos,  over  1000  miles  from  the  sea,  and  to 
Iquitos,  Peru.  There  are  over  10,000  miles  of 
navigable  waterways  open  to  ocean-going  ves- 
sels and  river  steamers  and  20,000  miles  addi- 
tional open  to  light  draft  vessels. 

Education 

There  are  over  13,000  schools  in  Brazil  with 
an  attendance  of  about  750,000  pupils,  besides 
many  agricultural  schools. 

Kesources  and  Industries 

Brazil  is  one  of  the  richest  countries  in  the 
world  in  natural  resources  and  is  one  of  the 


142  GETTING  TOGETHER 

few  countries  wliicli  could  be  absolntely  self 
supporting.  Its  tropical  areas  produce  all  tlie 
fruits,  vegetables  and  other  products  of  the  tor- 
rid zone;  there  are  vast  forests  of  valuable 
woods;  it  has  marvelous  areas  of  cattle  lands, 
and  its  mineral  wealth  is  stupendous.  Much  of 
the  interior  is  unknown  and  its  forest  and  min- 
eral resources  have  scarcely  been  touched. 
Brazil's  chief  revenues  are  derived  from  its 
agriculture,  and  at  present  coffee,  cacao,  rice, 
cotton,  sugar,  tobacco,  Paraguay  tea,  man- 
dioca  and  rubber  are  the  most  important. 
Kubber  and  coffee  are  the  principal  exports, 
the  average  coffee  crop  exceeding  12,000,000 
sacks  of  132.76  pounds  each. 

Among  the  minerals  found  in  Brazil  are  the 
following: 


Agates, 

Amethysts, 

Andalusites, 

Antimony, 

Aquamarines, 

Arsenic, 

Atopite, 


Barium, 

Bismuth, 

Blende, 

, 

Cadmium  blende 

Chalmersite, 

! 

Chrysoberl, 

Cymophane, 

WITH  LATIN  AMERICA 


143 


Chrome, 

Molybdenite, 

Cinnabar, 

Nickel, 

Citrine, 

Opal, 

Coal, 

Palladium, 

Cobalt  bloom, 

Phenakite, 

Columbite, 

Platinum, 

Copper, 

Pumice, 

Cyanide, 

Eock  crystal, 

Diamonds, 

Ehodonite, 

J^mery, 

Buby, 

Epidote, 

Kutile, 

Euclase, 

Salt, 

Jb'luorspar, 

Saltpetre, 

Garnet, 

Sapphires, 

Galena, 

Silver, 

Gold, 

Spliene, 

Graphite, 

Spinel, 

Iron, 

Spodumene, 

Jasper, 

Stibnite, 

Kaolin, 

Stolzite, 

Lewisite, 

Talc, 

Manganese, 

Tin, 

Marble, 

Topaz, 

Mica, 

Tourmalines, 

Monazite, 

Tungsten, 

144  GETTING  TOGETHER 

TJranium,  Wolframite, 

Vanadium,  Zircon. 

In  manufactures  Brazil  is  rapidly  progress- 
ing. The  leading  manufacture  is  cotton  goods, 
but  there  are  also  tanneries,  shoe  factories,  hat 
factories,  foundries,  furniture  factories,  etc. 
The  five  larger  cotton  mills  in  the  Federal  Dis- 
trict employ  over  8000  operatives  and  have  an 
output  of  more  than  80,000,000  yards.  Another 
mill  employs  1500  operatives  and  utilizes  over 
1500  horsepower.  Four  mills  in  Petropolis 
manufacture  an  average  of  18,000,000  yards, 
while  in  Sao  Paulo,  twenty-four  mills  produce 
over  84,000,000  yards.  In  Sao  Paulo  there  are 
also  sugar,  alcohol,  beer,  jute,  chemical,  hat, 
paper,  match,  shoe,  leather,  furniture,  lace  and 
silk  manufactures.  There  are  also  flour  mills, 
shirt,  collar  and  stocking  factories;  plants  for 
making  hydrogen  gas;  a  railway  assembling 
works,  a  fiber  plant,  steam  laundries,  etc.  la 
Parana  the  lumber  industry,  although  still  in 
its  infancy,  produces  over  $2,000,000  worth  of 
lumber  annually. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  145 

BRITISH  GUIAJSTA  (DEMERARA) 

Area. — About  90,000  square  miles,  or  about  the 
size  of  New  England  with  New  Jersey, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  in  addition. 

Chief  Exports. — Sugar,  gold,  diamonds,  rub- 
ber, balata,  rice. 

Total  Value  of  Exports.— About  $13,000,000 
annually,  divided  as  follows: 

Sugar  and  by-products $9,000,000 

Gold   1,000,000 

Diamonds    1,000,000 

Balata    1,000,000 

Rice  and  other  products 1,000,000 

Toial  Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $10,000,000 
annually. 

Population.— Ahout  300,000,  divided  as  follows : 

Portuguese,  about 10,000 

Other  Europeans 4,000 

East  Indians 130,000 

Chinese  3,000 

Blacks 115,000 

Mixed  races 30,000 

Native  Indians 15,000 


146  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Capital, — Georgetown,  with  a  population  of 
about  60,000. 

Language. — English. 

Currency. — British,  but  prices  and  accounts 
usually  carried  in  dollars  and  cents.  Royal 
Bank  of  Canada  and  Colonial  Bank  of 
London  notes  in  $1,  $2,  $5,  $10,  $20  and 
upwards  in  universal  use.  British  copper, 
silver  and  gold  coins  as  in  England;  but 
three-penny  pieces  uncommon,  while  four- 
penny  pieces,  coined  especially  for  use  in 
the  colony,  supplant  them.  Many  of  the 
people  know  the  half-penny  only  as  a 
**cent"  and  the  four-penny  pieces  as 
*  ^  bits. ' '  The  term  * '  guilder ' '  is  also  widely 
used,  the  value  of  the  British  Guiana 
<^ guilder*'  being  .32  (one  shilling  and  four 
pence),  or  four  ^'bits.'' 

Weights  and  Measures. — British. 

Physical  Characters 

Physically,  British  Guiana  may  be  divided 
into  three  belts:  the  low  lying,  flat  and  swampy 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  147 

area  of  the  coastal  region;  the  more  elevated, 
broader  area  of  sand  hills  and  clayey  soils  back 
of  the  coastal  belt,  and  the  elevated  tablelands 
and  mountains  of  the  interior.  There  are  no 
definite  mountain  ranges;  the  mountains  con- 
sisting of  disconnected  groups  and  isolated 
peaks  rising  to  a  height  of  about  8000  feet  in 
Mount  Roraima  and  Mount  Kukenaam. 

Climate 

Very  healthful  and  seldom  oppressive,  even 
on  the  coasts.  Very  equable  and  with  no  well 
defined  rainy  seasons.  Rains  excessive  in  places 
and  liberal  everyw^here.  Mean  temperature  of 
coast,  79°  F.  to  82°  F.  Mean  maximum,  83° 
F.  to  87°  F.  A  temperature  of  90°  F.  has  been 
reached  only  on  half  a  dozen  occasions.  Aver- 
age humidity  at  9  a.m,  79.6;  at  4  p.m.,  76.9. 
Average  annual  rainfall  for  entire  colony  about 
100  inches.  Hottest  months,  September  and 
October;  coolest,  December,  January  and  Feb- 
ruary. Dryest  months,  from  middle  of  August 
to  middle  of  November  and  from  early  in  Feb- 
ruary to  middle  of  April. 


148  GETTING  TOGETHER 

GOVEKKMENT 

A  British  Colony  administered  by  a  Governor 
appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  assisted  by  the 
Executive  Council,  the  Court  of  Policy  and  the 
Combined  Court. 

Eesources  and  Industeies 

One  of  the  richest  of  South  American  coun- 
tries in  natural  resources.  The  soil  is  exceed- 
ingly fertile  and  almost  anything  can  be  grown. 
Vast  forests  of  valuable  timbers  cover  most  of 
the  colony  and  in  the  interior  and  along  most 
of  the  rivers  near  the  coasts  are  immense  grassy 
savannas  suitable  for  raising  enormous  herds 
of  cattle. 

Much  of  British  Guiana  is  unexplored  and 
unknown,  and  aside  from  a  narrow  strip  along 
the  coasts  and  the  lower  reaches  of  the  rivers, 
the  country  is  unsettled  and  undeveloped,  and 
only  about  300  square  miles,  or  one  three-hun- 
dredth of  its  total  area,  is  under  cultivation. 
Among  the  forest  products  are  greenheart, 
purpleheart,   lignum   vitae,   crabwood,   locust, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  149 

letter-wood,  wallaba,  mora,  bnllet-tree,  cedar, 
balata,  rubber,  Tonka  beans,  vanilla,  sarsapa- 
rilla,  Brazil  nuts,  locust  gum,  gum-ellemi,  palm- 
oil  nuts,  pita  hemp,  anotto,  and  many  medicinal 
and  dye  woods  and  plants.  Its  mineral  wealth 
is  also  very  great  and  is  scarcely  known.  Gold 
and  diamonds  are  worked  and  exported  exten- 
sively, but  in  a  primitive  and  crude  manner; 
there  are  immense  deposits  of  bauxite  now 
being  developed;  iron,  manganese,  copper,  mica, 
graphite,  antimony,  spinel  rubies,  sapphires, 
tourmalines  and  other  minerals  occur  and  there 
are  huge  deposits  of  kaolin,  ochre,  clays,  etc., 
with  indications  of  petroleum  and  asphalt. 

Transportation 

There  are  but  three  railways  in  the  colony 
with  a  total  mileage  of  less  than  200  miles,  but 
the  many  large  and  navigable  rivers  furnish 
adequate  transportation  near  the  coasts  and 
settlements.  Nearly  all  the  rivers  are  navi- 
gable for  ocean-going  vessels  for  nearly  fifty 
miles  from  the  sea  and  for  small  boats  for  many 
miles   further,    or   until   the   first   rapids   are 


150  GETTING  TOGETHER 

reached.  Beyond  these  all  travel  must  be  done 
by  means  of  canoes  or  in  small,  open  river 
boats,  necessitating  immense  labor,  great  risks 
and  enormous  expense. 


CHILE 

Area, — About  292,341  square  miles,  or  four 
times  the  size  of  Nebraska.  Would  cover 
our  western  coast  States  from  San  Diego^ 
Cal.,  to  middle  Alaska,  with  the  width  of 
California. 

Chief  Exports. — Nitrate  of  soda,  copper,  borax, 
wines,  flour. 

Value  of  Exports.—Ahout  $118,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.-^Ahout  $55,000,000. 

Population.— About  4,000,000. 

Capital. — Santiago,'  with  about  400,000  in- 
habitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Chilean  gold  peso  of  100  centavos, 
equal  to  $0,365  U.  S.  Actual  currency  is 
paper  that  averages  $0.22  to  the  peso. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  151 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric,  as  standard, 
but  Spanish  '^Vara''  (32.91  inches)  and 
*^ Quintal''  (101.41  lbs.)  in  use. 


Physical  Chaeactees 

Chile,  with  its  enormously  long  coastline  ex- 
tends from  the  Antarctic  to  the  tropical  regions, 
but  its  physical  characters  are  more  or  less 
constant.  Along  the  sea  the  land  rises  from 
a  narrow  coastal  strip  through  hills  to  the 
heights  of  the  Andes  which  extend  along  the 
entire  eastern  portion  of  the  country.  Al- 
though sections  are  fertile,  the  general  effect 
of  Chile  is  of  a  barren  country  and  in  fact, 
Chile  is  a  country  of  rugged  scenic  attractions, 
rather  than  of  luxuriance. 

Climate 

The  climate  of  Chile  is  healthful  and  in  most 
places  delightful.  Although  it  can  boast  of  the 
most  southerly  city  in  the  world,  Punta  Arenas, 
yet  even  in  its  most  southerly  portion  it  is  not 
extremely  cold,  while  in  the  north  it  is  sub- 


152  GETTING  TOGETHER 

tropical.  Like  other  west  coast  republics,  the 
climate  varies  according  to  the  altitude,  but  its 
dryness,  and  the  influence  of  the  Pacific  on  one 
side  and  the  barrier  of  the  Andes  'on  the  other, 
gives  Chile  a  more  equable  climate  than  most 
countries. 

GOVEENMENT 

Republican. 

Tkansportation,  Etc. 

There  are  about  4000  miles  of  railways 
in  Chile  with  many  more  in  process  of  con- 
struction or  survey.  The  most  noteworthy  line 
is  the  Transandean  railway  from  Buenos  Aires 
to  Valparaiso  which  crosses  the  Andes  through 
the  Cumbre  Tunnel  more  than  10,000  feet  above 
the  sea. 

Resoukces  and  Industries 

Although  Chile's  greatest  resources  are  her 
mineral  riches,  especially  her  vast  nitrate  fields 
and    copper    deposits,    yet    her    agricultural 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  153 

wealth  is  great.  Outside  of  mining  and  a  num- 
ber of  minor  industries,  in  which  articles  for 
local  consumption  are  manufactured,  there  are 
several  large  flour  mills  and  Chilean  flour  is 
now  exported,  not  only  to  the  other  Latin- 
American  Eepublics  but  also  to  the  United 
States  and  Europe. 


COLOMBLA 

Area, — About  476,916  square  miles,  or  about 
the  size  of  Germany,  France,  Holland,  Den- 
mark and  Belgium  combined. 

Chief  Exports, — Coffee,  cacao,  rubber,  vege- 
table ivory,  Panama  hats,  sugar,  tobacco, 
bananas,  platinum,  emeralds,  gold,  silver, 
metals,  liides,  cattle,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— (1915)  $31,579,131. 

Value  of  Imports.— (191^)  $17,840,350. 

Value  of  principal  exports. — 

Coffee $16,616,686 

Emeralds 1,000,000 

Gold   2,066,941 


154  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Hides    3,575,051 

Bananas    1,667,213 

Platinum  1,456,648 

Population.— {1912)  5,472,604. 

Capital. — Bogota  witJi  about  150,000  inhab- 
itants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Colombian,  based  on  the  peso 
(gold)  of  approximately  $0.98.  The 
**  pound  *'  is  $5.00  and  there  are  silver  coins 
of  50,  20  and  10  centavos,  as  well  as  1,  2 
and  5  centavos  pieces  of  nickel.  The  or- 
dinary medium  of  exchange  is  the  paper 
peso  convertible  at,  and  representing,  the 
gold  peso. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  standard.  Old 
Spanish  measures  of  *^Vara''  (33.38 
inches),  ^'Libra''  (1.014  lbs.)  and  '^Ar- 
roba'^  (25.36  lbs.)  still  in  use. 

Physical  Chakactees 

Colombia    is    largely    high,    elevated    land 
crossed  by  three  chains  of  mountains  and  with 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  155 

an  extensive  low  coastal  line  on  the  Caribbean 
Sea  and  a  narrower  belt  on  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
In  the  eastern  portion  there  are  extensive 
plains  sloping  to  the  Amazon  and  Orinoco 
basins,  while  in  the  west,  the  Andes  reach  an 
elevation  of  18,400  feet  at  Mount  Tolina. 

Climate 

Although  Colombia  lies  close  to,  and  partly 
under,  the  equator,  yet  the  varied  character  of 
the  country  results  in  a  climate  which  ranges 
from  the  hot,  tropical  lowlands  to  the  cool, 
temperate  plateaus  and  snow-clad  mountains. 
The  temperature  at  Bogota,  at  an  elevation  of 
8564  feet,  averages  about  58°  F.,  while  the  tem- 
perature at  Cartagena,  on  the  Caribbean,  aver- 
ages from  73°  F.  to  89°  F.  The  rainfall  in  the 
interior  is  excessive  and  in  places  practically 
continuous.    Average  rainfall,  144  inches. 

Government 

Under  the  constitution  of  Aug.  4th,  1886,  the 
Republic   of  Colombia  abolished   the  Federal 


156  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Union  and  tlie  sovereignty  of  the  various  states 
and  adopted  the  unitary  republican  form  of 
government  with  legislative,  executive  and  ju- 
dicial branches. 

Akmy  and  Navy 

The  standing  army  consists  of  6000  men,  but 
the  President  is  authorized  to  increase  the  force 
to  20,000  if  necessary.  Military  service  is  com- 
pulsory, one-third  of  the  standing  army's  quota 
being  drafted  every  year,  so  that  the  entire 
army  is  renewed  every  three  years.  Total 
armed  strength  estimated  at  120,000.  The  navy 
consists  of  five  cruisers,  three  gunboats,  one 
troopship  and  other  auxiliary  vessels. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

There  are  about  700  miles  of  railway  in  Co- 
lombia, but  the  bulk  of  transportation  is  by 
water.  The  most  important  waterway  is  the 
Magdalena  Biver,  which  is  navigable  for  ves- 
sels of  considerable  draft  for  over  600  miles  and 
for  light  draft  vessels  for  300  miles  further. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  157 

The  Atrato  is  navigable  for  200  miles  and  the 
Sinu  for  110  miles.  Many  of  the  interior  high- 
ways are  excellent,  but  the  majority  can  only 
be  traversed  by  mule  trains  and  primitive  ox 
carts. 

Education- 

There  are  about  5225  schools  in  the  Republic 
with  an  attendance  of  about  335,480  pupils. 
There  are  also  21  normal  schools  in  Colombia, 
Medellin  and  Pasto  each  having  mining  schools, 
and  there  are  universities  in  Bogota,  Medellin 
and  Cartagena,  that  at  Bogota  having  been 
founded  in  1572. 

ReSOUKCES  and  iNDUSTErES 

Potentially  Colombia  is  very  rich.  Vast  for- 
ests of  valuable  timber  cover  much  of  the  coun- 
try; much  of  the  land  is  very  fertile;  there  are 
large  areas  of  grazing  lands  and  enormous 
mineral  wealth  abounds. 

Vegetable  ivory  and  rubber  are  among  the 
most  valuable  forest  products;  coffee,  cacao, 


158  GETTING  TOGETHER 

sugar-cane,  tobacco  and  bananas  are  raised. 
Gold  is  found  in  every  department  of  the  Ke- 
public  and  silver,  mercury,  copper,  iron, 
asphalt,  lead,  coal,  petroleum,  and  platinum 
occur. 

Colombia   stands   second   as   a  producer   of 
platinum  and  first  as   a   source   of  emeralds. 
There  are  also  extensive  salt  mines  and  valuable 
pearl    fisheries.      In    the    interior    highlands, 
apples,  peaches,  berries,  potatoes,  wheat,  barley 
and  other  temperate  products  are  raised.    Next 
to  Brazil,  Colombia  is  the  largest  coffee  produc- 
ing  country   in   the   world,   the    annual   crop 
amounting  to  about  1,000,000  bags  of  132  lbs. 
each.    Much  of  the  interior  has  never  been  ex- 
plored and  nothing  is  known  of  the  mineral  and 
other  resources  of  these  districts.  The  platinum 
output  of  Colombia  is  only  exceeded  by  that  of 
Russia  and  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  she 
is  the  chief  producer.     Nearly  all  the  world's 
supply  of  emeralds  comes  from  Colombia,  the 
annual  output  of  the  mines  being  about  768,938 
carats. 

Colombia's  manufactures  are  not  very  impor- 
tant, but  there  are  factories  turning  out  textile 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  159 

goods,  glass,  earthenware,  matches,  iron  cast- 
ings, flour  and  sugar. 

COSTA  RICA 


Area. — ^About  23,000  square  miles  or  nearly  the 
size  of  the  aggregate  areas  of  Vermont, 
New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island. 

Chief  Exports. — Bananas,  coffee,  gold  and 
silver,  woods,  hides  and  skins,  rubber, 
cacao,  tortoise  shell,  pearl  shell,  man- 
ganese. 

Value  of  Exports.— About  $10,000,000. 
Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $10,000,000. 
Population. — About  400,000. 
Capital. — San  Jose  with  30,000  inhabitants. 
Language. — Spanish.  j 

Currency. — Gold    standard    ''Colon''    of    100  j 

centavos  equally  nominally  to  $0,465  U.  S.,  \ 

but  greatly  depreciated  at  present. 

j 
Weights  and  Measures. — Metric,  standard;  but 

Spanish    ''Vara''    (33    inches),    "Libra"  ' 

(1.014  lbs.),  and  "Arroba"  (25.36  lbs.)  in  ] 

use.  \ 


160  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Physical  Chakacters 

In  general,  Costa  Rica  is  a  lofty  plateau 
traversed  by  many  mountain  ranges;  but  with 
rich  alluvial  plains  along  both  its  coasts.  The 
main  mountain  range  extends  in  a  northwest- 
erly to  southeasterly  direction  and  culminates 
in  the  volcanos  of  Irazu  and  Turrialba  which 
attain  the  height  of  11,200  and  11,000  feet  re- 
spectively; the  mean  elevation  of  the  main 
plateau  being  about  3500  feet  above  the  sea. 

Climate 

The  climate  is  hot  and  moist  on  the  coasts, 
but  is  temperate  and  delightful  in  the  interior, 
varying  from  an  average  of  68°  F.,  at  San  Jose 
to  78°  F.  on  the  coasts,  but  every  variety  of 
climate  and  temperature  may  be  found  accord- 
ing to  the  altitude.  The  rainfall  on  the  Pacific 
slopes  and  the  central  plateau  is  greatest  from 
May  to  November,  while  on  the  Atlantic  slopes, 
it  is  almost  incessant.  At  San  Jose  the  average 
annual  rainfall  is  from  60  to  70  inches. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  161 

GOVEENMENT 

The  Eepublic  of  Costa  Eica  is  divided  into 
seven  provinces,  which  are  as  follows:  San 
Jose,  Cartago,  Heredia,  Alajuela,  Guanacaste, 
Punta  Arenas  and  Limon. 


Transportation,  Etc. 

There  are  about  500  miles  of  railways  in  op- 
eration in  the  Republic.  The  main  line  runs 
from  Port  Limon  to  San  Jose,  a  distance  of  103 
miles,  and  it  continues  to  Alajuela,  14  miles 
farther  north.  The  Pacific  Railway  extends 
from  San  Jose  to  Punta  Areiias,  on  the  Pacific, 
a  distance  of  70  miles,  thus  affording  through 
traffic  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
making  the  sixth  transcontinental  railroad  in 
the  two  Americas.  There  are  also  16  navigable 
rivers  in  the  Republic. 

Telegraph  and  telephone  systems  connect  all 
principal  towns  and  there  are  wireless  stations 
at  the  ports. 


162  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Education 

Costa  Eica  possesses  many  excellent  public 
schools,  as  well  as  higli  schools,  technical  and 
manual  training  schools  and  universities,  and 
the  people  are,  as  a  whole,  better  educated  than 
in  the  majority  of  the  Latin- American  coun- 
tries. 

Eesources  and  Industries 

Costa  Rica  is  well  named,  for  it  is  one  of  the 
richest  countries  in  natural  resources.  The 
coastal  lands  on  the  Atlantic  are  very  fertile 
and  produce  enormous  crops  of  bananas;  there 
are  extensive  grazing  lands  near  the  coasts  and 
in  the  interior,  especially  on  the  Pacific  side  of 
the  divide;  the  interior  valleys  and  the  pla- 
teaus are  exceedingly  rich  and  nearly  every 
product  of  the  tropical  or  temperate  zones  may 
be  grown  to  perfection.  There  are  also  vast 
areas  of  forests  rich  in  valuable  woods,  and  the 
country's  mineral  wealth  is  great.  Gold  mines 
are  in  operation  and  have  been  for  a  century, 
and  iron,  petroleum,  silver,  copper  and  manga- 
nese are  known  to  occur. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  163 

CUBA 

Area, — 45,881  square  miles,  or  a  trifle  larger 
than  Pennsylvania.  If  placed  on  the  map 
of  the  United  States,  Cuba  would  reach 
from  New  York  to  Indianapolis  with  an 
average  width  equal  to  New  Jersey. 

Chief  Exports. — Sugar,  tobacco,  citrus  fruits, 
iron,  manganese,  copper,  asphalt,  woods, 
etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $300,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $150,000,000. 

Population.— Ahout  3,000,000. 

Capital. — Havana  with  about  500,000  inhabit- 
ants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Cuban,  gold  standard.  Dollar  of 
100  centavos,  on  par  with  United  States 
currency.  United  States  coins  and  notes 
extensively  used  and  interchangeable  with 
the  Cuban  currency. 

Weights  and  Measures, — Metric  as  standard, 
but  old  Spanish  and  standard  United 
States  measures  used  considerably. 


164  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Physical  Characteks 

The  topography  of  Cuba  is  varied,  the  coastal 
districts  being  low,  the  central  portions  consist- 
ing of  broad  plains  and  low  hills,  and  the  south- 
eastern portions  rising  to  the  mountains  of  the 
Sierra  Maestra,  which  reaches  an  altitude  of 
over  8000  feet.  In  the  Pinar  del  Rio  district 
of  the  west  are  numerous  conical  hills  and  iso- 
lated mountains,  mainly  of  limestone  forma- 
tion ;  the  central  portion  from  Havana  to  Cama- 
guey  is  largely  level  and  the  district  about 
Santiago  is  extremely  rugged.  In  a  general 
way  the  land  slopes  upward  from  the  northern 
to  the  southern  coasts,  but  even  along  the  north- 
ern coasts  there  are  many  hills  and  low  moun- 
tains. 

Climate 

Throughout  most  of  Cuba  the  climate  is  de- 
lightful and  very  healthful.  Indeed,  Cuba  is  the 
most  healthful  country  in  the  world,  the  mortal- 
ity being  but  ten  per  thousand,  as  against  six- 
teen per  thousand  in  the  United  States.  On  the 
coasts  it  is  often  uncomfortably  hot,  and  it  is 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  165 

not  "ancommon  to  have  it  so  cold  in  winter  that 
overcoats  and  furs  are  required;  in  fact,  the 
climate  of  Cuba  is,  as  a  whole,  far  more  tem- 
perate than  torrid.  The  maximum  temperature 
ever  recorded  was  98^  F.  The  minimum  re- 
corded was  47°  F.  The  average  temperature 
for  the  hottest  and  coolest  months  over  a  period 
of  six  years  was  June,  80°  F.;  July,  80°  F.; 
August,  81°  F.;  September,  80°  F.;  January, 
70°  F.  Average  rainfall  54  inches  per  year. 
Almost  any  desired  climate  may  be  found  in 
Cuba.  In  the  high  lands  it  is  cool,  whereas 
on  the  coasts  it  is  hot;  but  there  is  usually  a 
good  breeze  and  the  humidity  is  low. 

Government 

Cuba  is  an  independent  republic  with  its 
autonomy  and  integrity  guaranteed  by  the 
United  States. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

Cuba  is  well  supplied  with  railways,  the  main 
line  running  from  Havana  to  Santiago,  a  dis- 


166  GETTING  TOGETHER 

tance  of  about  800  miles,  while  branches  con- 
nect all  principal  ports  and  towns  on  both 
coasts.  In  addition  there  are  several  lines  con- 
necting Havana  with  the  ports  of  Matanzas, 
Batabano,  etc.,  while  another  line  extends  to 
Pinar  del  Eio  with  branches  to  various  ports  on 
the  coasts.  Telegraph  and  telephone  lines  con- 
nect all  towns  and  cities  and  coastwise  steamers 
ply  between  the  ports. 

Education 

Cuba's  school  system  is  excellent.  There  are 
primary  schools  throughout  the  island,  second- 
ary and  high  schools  in  the  larger  towns  and 
colleges  and  universities,  as  well  as  schools  for 
training  in  special  arts,  sciences  and  trades. 

Resoukces  and  Industries 

Cuba's  resources  are  almost  unlimited.  There 
are  vast  mineral  riches,  important  fisheries, 
valuable  woods,  enormous  agricultural  oppor- 
tunities and  immense  areas  of  grazing  lands. 
The  heaviest  forests  are  in  the  eastern  part  of 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  167 

the  island,  the  greatest  mineral  deposits  are  in 
the  mountains  of  the  southeast;  the  best  grazing 
lands  are  in  the  central  portions  and  the  west- 
ern parts  are  best  adapted  to  tobacco  and 
sugar.  The  forests  contain  a  vast  number  of 
valuable  woods,  such  as  mahogany,  cedar,  lig- 
num vitae,  etc.  All  the  tropical  and  most  of  the 
temperate  fruits  and  vegetables  are  raised.  The 
sponge  fishery  is  important;  pearls  occur  abun- 
dantly; tortoise  shell  is  an  important  product 
and  the  food  fisheries  are  very  large.  Among 
the  mineral  riches  are  iron,  copper,  gold,  man- 
ganese, cinnabar,  lignite,  asphalt,  petroleum, 
etc.  There  are  many  important  manufacturing 
industries  in  Cuba.  Aside  from  sawmills,  sugar 
mills,  foundries,  wood-working  mills,  machine 
shops,  shipyards,  furniture  factories,  etc.,  there 
are  immense  breweries,  fan  factories,  cement- 
making  plants,  brick  yards,  rubber  tire  fac- 
tories and  a  huge  bottle  factory  with  an  output 
of  over  100,000  bottles  per  day. 


168  GETTING  TOGETHER 


DOMINICAN  KEPUBLIC 

Area.— 19,325  sqnare  miles.  About  two-thirds 
as  large  as  Maine.  About  the  size  of 
Massachusetts,  Vermont  and  Rhode  Island 
combined.  Nearly  twice  the  size  of  Bel- 
gium. 

Chief  Exports, — Sugar,  tobacco,  coffee,  cacao, 
hides,  honey,  woods,  wax,  fruit. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahovit  $15,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $10,000,000. 

Population.— About  1,000,000. 

Capital. — Santo  Domingo  City  with  20,000  in- 
habitants. 
Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Standard  adopted  is  the  gold  dol- 
lar of  the  United  States. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  as  standard, 
but  Dominican  ''QuintaP'  (101.4  lb.)  and 
^^Vara'^  (32.91  inches),  as  well  as  United 
States  measures,  in  common  use. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  169 

Physical  Chakacteks 

Santo  Domingo,  of  which  the  Dominican  Re- 
public forms  the  eastern  two-thirds,  is  the  most 
mountainous  and  loftiest  of  the  West  Indies, 
the  highest  peak  being  Mt.  Loma  Tina,  which 
rises  to  about  11,000  feet  above  the  sea.  There 
are,  however,  large  areas  of  level  plains, 
especially  in  the  eastern  and  central  portions; 
broad  coastal  areas,  vast  fertile  valleys  and  im- 
mense elevated  tablelands. 


Climate 

The  climate  varies  greatly  according  to  the 
locality,  but  is  healthful  in  nearly  all  parts  of 
the  republic.  In  the  interior  it  is  cool  and 
springlike,  but  on  the  coasts  it  is  very  hot,  and 
in  places,  extremely  dry. 

Government 

An  independent  republic  but  practically 
under  the  protectorate  of  the  United  States, 


170  GETTING  TOGETHER 

which  controls  the  customs,  polices  the  republic 
and  maintains  order,  credit  and  law. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

There  are  several  railways  in  the  republic; 
one  from  Puerta  Plata  to  Santiago;  another 
from  Sanchez  to  La  Vega;  another  from  the 
capital  to  Macoris  and  several  shorter  lines. 
The  highways  are  very  poor,  but  are  being 
rapidly  improved  by  the  United  States  authori- 
ties. The  telephone  system  is  excellent  and 
connects  all  cities  and  towns. 

Education 

Education  has  been  greatly  neglected  and  a 
large  percentage  of  the  people  are  very  igno- 
rant, but  educational  opportunities  are  being 
improved  under  our  administration. 

Resources  and  Industries 

The  resources  of  the  Republic  are  almost  un- 
limited. Vast  mineral  wealth  abounds,  but  is 
undeveloped.    Gold,  silver,  amber,  copper,  iron, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  171 

nickel,  salt,  petroleum,  lignite,  asphalt,  cinna- 
bar, tin,  manganese  and  other  minerals  occur, 
and,  in  the  old  Spanish  days,  the  island  was  the 
greatest  source  of  precious  metals  of  all  the 
West  Indian  colonies  of  Spain.  Vast  forests  of 
pine  cover  the  interior  mountains  and  there  are 
great  quantities  of  valuable  cabinet  and  dye 
woods  in  the  immense  forests  which  cover  a 
large  portion  of  the  country.  There  are  also 
immense  areas  suitable  for  grazing  and  the 
agricultural  possibilities  are  tremendous,  for 
every  product  of  the  tropic  or  temperate  zones 
may  be  grown.  The  industries,  aside  from  agri- 
culture, are  few,  but  there  are  match,  soap, 
furniture  and  other  factories;  breweries,  ma- 
chine shops,  sawmills,  sugar  mills,  etc. 


DUTCH  GUIANA  (SURINAM) 

Area, — About  46,000  square  miles,  or  a  little 
larger  than  Pennsylvania. 

Chief  Exports. — Sugar,  cocoa,  coffee,  rice, 
balata,  rubber,  cocoanuts,  gold,  timber  and 
mangrove  bark. 


172  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Population. — (Estimated)  About  98,000,  di- 
vided as  follows: 

Javanese  and  East  Indians 22,000 

Native  Indians  and  Bush  Negroes  10,000 

Blacks  and  colored 20,000 

Whites  and  other  races 46,000 

Capital. — Paramaribo  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Surinam  river  about  20  miles  from  the 
sea  and  with  about  36,000  inhabitants. 

Language. — Dutch,  but  English  spoken  consid- 
erably in  Paramaribo,  while  the  Bush 
Negroes  and  native  Indians  speak  a  pe- 
culiar jargon  known  as  ^ ^ Talky-talky. ' ^ 

Currency. — Dutch,  but  British  and  United 
States  coins  and  banknotes  p^ss  at  face 
value  on  a  basis  of  about  .40  to  the  Guilder. 


Physical  Characters 

Near  the  sea  the  country  is  level  and  swampy; 
back  of  this  area  are  higher  rolling  lands  and 
further  inland  are  hills  and  mountains  without 
any  definite  ranges  and  not  reaching  to  any 
great  height. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  173 

Climate 

Hot,  but  not  unhealthful  on  tlie  coasts  and 
cooler  in  the  interior.  Rainfall  very  heavy  and 
with  no  very  distinct  wet  and  dry  seasons. 
Average  temperature  of  coastal  districts,  79°  F. 
Mean  minimum  temperature,  75°  F.  Mean 
maximum,  91°  F. 

Government 

Dutch  Colonial,  administered  by  a  Governor 
appointed  by  the  Queen  of  Holland,  and  assisted 
by  an  Executive  Council  of  four  members  and 
a  Legislative  Assembly,  the  members  of  which 
are  elected  for  six-year  terms  by  the  citizens. 

Eesources 

Dutch  Guiana  is  very  rich  in  natural  re- 
sources and  much  of  the  country  is  covered 
with  immense  forests  of  valuable  woods.  There 
are  large  savannas  suitable  for  stock  raising; 
there  are  elevated  fertile  lands  where  temperate 
products  may  be  raised  and  there  is  vast  min- 


174  GETTING  TOGETHER 

eral  wealth.  Gold  workings  are  carried  on  ex- 
tensively ;  there  are  large  and  valuable  deposits 
of  bauxite;  iron,  antimony,  graphite,  and  cop- 
per have  been  found  and  in  many  of  the  streams 
are  rich  pebbles  of  cinnabar. 

Tkansportation 

Only  one  railway  in  the  colony,  a  short  line 
of  about  100  miles  running  from  the  capital  into 
the  interior.  No  roads  outside  of  the  immedi- 
ate vicinity  of  the  coastal  towns.  Practically 
all  travel  is  done  by  small  steamers,  launches 
and  canoes  upon  the  numerous  large  rivers  and 
their  tributaries. 


ECUADOR 

Area. — Estimated  at  116,000  square  miles  or 
about  as  large  as  New  England  with  New 
York  and  New  Jersey  in  addition.  There 
are  160,000  square  miles  in  addition  which 
are  in  discussion  with  Peru. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  175 

Chief  Exports. — Cacao,  coffee,  metals  and  ores, 
Panama  hats,  ivory  nuts,  rubber,  forest 
products. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $13,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $10,000,000. 

Population.— Ahout  2,000,000. 

Capital. — Quito,  mth  80,000  inhabitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Gold  standard,  *^ Sucre''  of  100 
centavos  equal  to  about  $0,487  U.  S.  cur- 
rency. Ten  Sucres  are  equal  to  one  Condor 
or  one  pound  sterling. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  as  standard, 
but  the  old  Spanish  measures  are  widely 
used. 

Physical  Characters 

Ecuador  is  traversed  from  north  to  south  for 
over  500  miles  by  the  two  parallel  ranges  of  the 
Andes.  Some  of  the  peaks  of  Ecuador  are 
among  the  highest  on  the  continent.  Chimbo- 
razo  is  20,498  feet;  Cotopaxi  is  20,000  feet,  and 
the  great  plateau  between  the  Andean  ranges 


176  GETTING  TOGETHER 

varies  from  7000  to  9500  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  There  are  also  extensive  areas  of 
lowlands  covered  with  dense  tropical  vegeta- 
tion. 

Climate 

The  climate  may  be  divided  into  four  zones, 
as  follows:  1,  the  ''Tierras  Calientes/'  or  hot 
lowlands;  2,  the  ^'Templadas,"  between  six  and 
nine  thousand  feet;  3,  the  '^Frias,"  which  in- 
cludes the  fertile  plateau  of  Quito  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  9371  feet,  and  4,  the  *'Nevadas/'  com- 
prising the  snow-capped  peaks  of  the  Andes. 
In  these  various  zones  every  diversity  of  cli- 
mate may  be  found  from  the  tropical  heat  to 
the  wintry  cold  of  the  everlasting  snows. 

Government 

Ecuador  is  a  centralized  Eepublic  with  legis- 
lative, executive  and  judicial  branches.  The 
President  is  elected  by  direct  vote  for  a  term 
of  four  years  and  cannot  be  re-elected,  except 
after  a  lapse  of  two  terms. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  177 

Abmy  and  Navy 

The  permanent  army  consists  of  7500  men 
and  officers  and  the  first  and  second  reserves  of 
about  100,000.  A  mining  and  torpedo  section, 
a  sanitary  section  and  a  telephone  and  tele- 
graph corps  were  created  in  1910.  The  navy 
consists  of  one  cruiser,  the  ^^Cotopaxi,''  of  600 
tons;  a  torpedo  destroyer,  the  *^ Bolivar,"  of 
1000  tons;  one  torpedo  boat,  the  ^^Tarqui,"  of 
56  tons;  three  launches  and  one  auxiliary  ves- 
sel, with  a  total  equipment  of  about  200  men. 

Tkansportation,  Etc. 

The  total  extent  of  railway  lines  in  Ecuador 
is  about  400  miles,  but  considerable  additional 
mileage  is  under  construction.  Most  of  the 
rivers  are  navigable  for  considerable  distances, 
the  Guayas  being  navigable  for  river  steamers 
to  Bodegas,  40  miles  from  Guayaquil,  while 
smaller  vessels  can  proceed  a  further  200  miles 
during  the  wet  season.  The  Duale  Eiver  is 
navigable  for  60  miles;  the  Vinces  for  50  miles, 
and  the  Ecuadorean  portion  of  the  Amazon, 


178  GETTING  TOGETHER 

known  as  the  Marafion,  is  navigable  almost  in 
its  entirety,  and  thus  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Ecuadorean  Andes  may  be  reached  from  the 
Atlantic  by  way  of  Brazil.  Local  steamers  also 
connect  all  ports.  The  telegraph  system  has  an 
extent  of  3500  miles,  while  there  are  two  tele- 
phone systems  in  Guayaquil  and  one  in  Quito, 
with  long  distance  service  between  the  two 
cities. 

Education 

School  attendance  is  compulsory.  There  are 
about  1600  public  schools  for  primary  educa- 
tion in  the  Kepublic  with  an  attendance  of  over 
100,000.  For  secondary  education  there  are  35 
schools  and  there  are  also  9  higher  schools  with 
commercial  and  technical  schools  in  Quito  and 
Guayaquil.  At  Quito  there  is  a  university  and 
faculties  for  higher  education  are  maintained 
in  both  Guayaquil  and  Cuenca. 

Resources  and  Industries 

Ecuador  is  very  rich  in  both  agriculture  and 
mining  possibilities,  but  the  latter  have  been 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  179 

greatly  neglected,  owing  to  lack  of  transpor- 
tation facilities.  Among  her  minerals  are  nearly 
all  the  metals  known.  The  country  is  wonder- 
fully adapted  to  cacao,  while  ivory  nuts,  cof- 
fee, rubber  and  other  tropical  products  grow  to 
perfection.  The  forests  are  also  rich  in  hard 
woods,  medicinal  plants,  fibers,  etc.  Grape 
growing  is  also  an  important  industry,  as  is 
cattle  raising,  and  among  the  most  important 
of  the  country's  exports  are  the  so-called  Pan- 
ama hats,  the  finest  of  which  are  made  in  Ecua- 
dor. Besides  the  hat  industry,  Ecuador's 
manufactures  are  represented  by  foundries,  ice 
plants,  sugar  refineries  and  a  number  of  flour 
mills,  while  a  few  small  plants  are  engaged  in 
making  woolen  and  cotton  blankets,  ponchos, 
carpets,  felt  hats,  laces,  embroideries,  shoes, 
furniture,  matting,  saddles,  wagons  and  carts. 
There  are  also  factories  for  the  production  of 
vermicelli,  chocolate,  biscuits,  beer,  soap,  can- 
dles, bags,  cotton  fabrics,  shoes,  matches,  ete. 


180  GETTING  TOGETHER 

FRENCH  GUIANA  (CAYENNE) 

Area, — About  30,500  square  miles,  or  about  the 
size  of  South  Carolina. 

Chief  Exports. — Scarcely  any,  except  gold 
which  amounts  to  about  $2,000,000  an- 
nually. Cocoa,  sugar,  rosewood,  oil, 
coffee,  spices,  etc.,  are  grown  to  a  limited 
extent. 

Population. — About  50,000,  of  whom  about 
8000  are  convicts  or  freed  convicts;  4000 
are  Indians;  between  600  and  700  are 
soldiers  and  military  officials  and  about 
14,000  are  gold  seekers,  mainly  colored 
West  Indians. 

Capital. — Cayenne  with  about  15,000  inhab- 
itants. 

Language. — French  officially  and  among  the 
better  classes ;  but  Creole  or  Patois  French 
among  the  lower  classes. 

Currency. — French,  with  certain  local  coins 
and  bank  notes. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  181 

•    Physical  Chaeactkrs 

More  hilly  than  Dutch  or  British  Guiana  with 
some  rocky  shores  and  with  the  swampy  areas 
back  from  the  sea  among  the  sand  hills. 

Climate 

Hotter  than  either  Dutch  or  British  Guiana, 
but  not  in  itself  unhealthful,  although  lack  of 
sanitary  conditions  and  criminal  neglect  have 
caused  Cayenne  to  become  a  *^ white  man's 
tomb. ' ' 

GOVERNMBKT 

French  penal  colony  administered  by  a  Gov- 
ernor from  France  and  assisted  by  a  council  of 
officials  and  a  legislative  elective  assembly  of 
16  members. 

Eesoueces 

The  soil  near  the  coast  is  not  so  fertile  as 
that  of  the  neighboring  Gnianas;  but  it  is  rich 


182  GETTING  TOGETHER 

in  the  interior  and  capable  of  producing  large 
crops.  Vast  forests  of  valuable  woods  cover 
much  of  the  country.  Aside  from  gold  little  is 
known  of  its  mineral  resources. 


Tkansportation 

No  railways  and  few  roads  except  near  the 
towns.  Travel  is  mainly  by  small  boats  and 
steamers  on  the  rivers. 


GUATEMALA 

Area. — ^About  48,290  square  miles,  or  nearly 
the  same  size  as  Mississippi. 

Chief  Exports. — Coffee,   cacao,   fruits,   hides, 
sugar,  woods,  chicle,  rubber. 

Value  of  Exports.— About  $14,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $10,000,000. 

Population.— About  2,000,000. 

Capital. — Guatemala  City  with  90,000  inhabit- 
ants. ' 

Language. — Spanish. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  183 

Currency.— Gold  peso  of  100  centavos,  equal 
to  about  $0.9642  U.  S.  The  silver  peso 
fluctuates  in  value,  the  average  being  about 
$0.45  U.  S.  Common  currency  in  use  is 
paper  of  depreciated  value,  a  paper  peso 
being  worth  about  $0.06  U.  S.  The  '^ReaP' 
is  one-eighth  of  a  peso  or  121/2  centavos. 

Weights  and  Measures.— Metric  as  standard, 
but  Spanish  *^Vara'^  and  ^^Arroba''  in 
common  use. 

Physical  Chakacters 

Topographically,  Guatemala  is  very  similar 
to  the  other  Central  American  republics,  con- 
sisting of  a  fairly  level  coastal  plain,  high  table- 
lands and  lofty  mountains  and  volcanoes  in  the 
interior. 

Climate 

Varies  from  the  hot  coastal  districts  to  the 
cool,  spring-like  climate  of  the  high  interior. 


184  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Government 

Nominally  republican,  but  like  the  majority 
of  Latin-American  countries,  is  on  a  military 
basis. 


Teansportation,  Etc. 

Guatemala  has  about  500  miles  of  railway  in 
operation  with  through  lines  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  coasts. 


Eesoukces  and  Industries 

Guatemala's  resources  are  very  great,  but  as 
the  country  is  sparsely  settled  and  largely  un- 
developed, little  is  known  of  the  mineral  wealth. 
The  forests  are  full  of  valuable  woods,  the  soil 
is  very  fertile  and  will  produce  all  of  the  tropi- 
cal and  most  of  the  temperate  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, and  there  are  extensive  areas  of  excel- 
lent grazing  country.  In  general,  the  resources 
of  the  country  are  more  like  southern  Mexico 
than  the  rest  of  Central  America. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  185 

HAITI 

Area. — About  11,000  square  miles. 

Chief  Exports. — Logwood,  coffee,  cacao,  cotton, 

sugar,    vegetables,    fruits,    lignum    vitae, 

honey,  etc. 
Value  of  Exports.— About  $15,000,000. 
Value  of  Imports.— About  $10,000,000. 
Population.— About  2,000,000. 
Capital— Fort  au  Prince  with  75,000  inliabit- 

ants. 
Language. — French  and  French  patois. 
Currency. — Gold    *' Gourde''    equal    to    about 

$0.25  U.  S.,  but  United  States  currency  in 

common  use. 
Weights    and    Measures. — Metric    system    as 

standard,  but  United  States  measures  in 

common  use. 

Physical  Chakacters 

Like  the  rest  of  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo, 
Haiti  is  very  rugged  and  mountainous  in  char- 


186  GETTING  TOGETHER 

acter,  about  the  only  level  land  being.tlie  coastal 
plains  and  the  interior  elevated  valleys  and 
tablelands. 


Climate 

Similar  to  Dominican  Republic,  but  hotter 
and  less  healthful  on  the  coasts  owing  to  the 
mountains  shutting  off  the  trade  winds. 


Government 

Nominally  a  republic,  but  practically  a  mili- 
tary despotism  until  the  United  States  took 
charge  and  established  a  protectorate. 

Transportation 

Previous  to  the  United  States'  intervention 
there  were  but  a  few  miles  of  railway  in  Haiti 
and  the  few  roads  were  in  terrible  condition. 
Under  our  direction,  several  railways  have  been 
constructed  and  excellent  highways  have  been 
built  between  the  principal  towns. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  187 

Resoukces  and  Industries 

The  resources  of  Haiti,  as  well  as  its  products, 
are  practically  the  same  as  those  of  the  Domini- 
can Republic,  but  her  mineral  wealth  is  not  so 
great. 

HONDURAS 

Area, — About  46,250  square  miles,  or  about  the 

size  of  Pennsylvania. 
Chief    Exports. — Bananas,    cocoanuts,    coffee, 

woods,  gold. 
Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $3,000,000. 
Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $4,000,000. 
Population. — About  600,000. 
Capital. — Tegucigalpa  with  35,000  inhabitants. 
Language. — Spanish. 

Currency. — Silver  Peso   equal  to  $0.40  U.  S. 

The  Real  of  12i/^  centavos,  or  one-eighth 

of  a  peso,  is  nominally  equal  to  $0.05  U.  S. 
Weights    and    Measures. — Metric    system    as 

standard,  but  the  Spanish  measures  and 

weights  are  in  common  use. 


188  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Physical  Chakacters 

Extremely  mountainous  in  the  interior,  with 
high  tablelands  and  low  coastal  plains  like 
Costa  Rica  and  the  rest  of  Central  America. 

Climate 
Very  similar  to  that  of  Costa  Rica. 

Government 
Republican. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

Aside  from  the  banana  railways  of  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  district  there  are  few  railways  in  Hon- 
duras and  the  capital  has  the  distinction  of 
being  one  of  the  few  capital  cities  of  the  world 
which  is  without  railway  communication  in  any 
direction. 

Resources  and  Industries 

Tlie  resources  are  great  and  are  like  those  of 
Costa  Rica,  but  tlie  country  is  mainly  unde- 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  189 

veloped  and  unexplored  and  little  is  known  of 
its  possibilities. 


MEXICO 


* 


Area.— 767,097  square  miles.  About  the  size 
of  all  the  Atlantic  States  from  Maine  to 
Florida.  Larger  than  California,  Oregon, 
Washington,  Nevada,  Arizona,  Utah  and 
Idaho  combined.  More  than  three  times 
as  large  as  Germany. 

Chief  Exports,— Ores  and  metals,  petroleum, 
agricultural  products,  woods,  cattle  and 
animal  products. 

Value  of  Exports.— About  $150,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $100,000,000. 

Population.— About  15,000,000. 

Capital.—M.exico  City  with  about  500,000  in- 
habitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

*  Owing  to  the  present  disturbed  condition  of  Mexico  it  is 
impossible  to  secure  any  reliable  or  up-to-date  information  or 
statistics  and  the  figures  above  are  merely  of  interest  in  com- 
parison with  the  other  countries. 


190  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Currency. — Peso    of    100    centavos,    equal    to 
about  $0,498  U.  S.  currency. 

Weight  and  Measures. — Metric  standard,  but 
old  Spanish  system  in  use. 

Physicajl  Characters 

Mexico  is  a  country  of  extremely  varied  and 
diversified  topography  with  immense  low-lying 
coastal  plains  and  swamps;  far-stretching 
prairies  and  vast  dry  desert-like  plains;  enor- 
mous elevated  tablelands  and  numerous  rugged, 
lofty  mountain  chains.  The  northern  portion  is 
somewhat  like  our  southwest;  further  south  the 
country  becomes  rich  and  well  watered,  and  in 
the  south,  it  is  luxuriously  tropical. 

Climate 

Owing  to  its  geographical  position  and  to  its 
varied  physical  character,  Mexico  possesses 
practically  every  climate  from  the  hottest  trop- 
ical to  the  cool  temperate,  while  in  the  loftier 
mountains  one  may  find  a  climate  of  perpetual 
ice  and  snow.    In  a  broad  way  the  climate  may 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  191 

be  divided  into  three  zones:  The  ^'Tierras 
calientes''  or  hot  lands  of  the  coasts;  the 
''Tierras  templadas^'  or  temperate  lands  of  the 
elevated  plains  and  plateaus,  and  the  ''Tierras 
frias^'  or  highlands  of  the  mountains.  Many 
of  the  coastal  districts  are  very  unhealthful,  but 
the  bulk  of  the  country,  especially  the  central 
plateau,  has  a  delightful,  healthful  climate  of 
perpetual  spring. 

Government 

Nominally  republican,  but  for  many  years  a 
military  despotism  under  a  dictator. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

Mexico  possesses  about  16,000  miles  of  rail- 
ways providing  transportation  facilities  be- 
tween all  important  places,  and  many  of  the 
highroads  are  excellent.  Telegraph  and  tele- 
phone systems  are  numerous  and  connect  all 
important  settlements. 


192  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Education 

The  educational  system  in  the  large  cities 
and  towns  is  well  advanced,  but  in  the  outlying 
districts  and  throughout  the  greater  portion  of 
Mexico,  education  has  been  neglected  and  the 
people  are  wofully  ignorant. 

Eesources  and  Industries 

Mexico's  natural  resources  are  almost  un- 
limited. Her  mines  have  been  famous  for  cen- 
turies; her  vast  forests  are  rich  in  valuable 
woods  and  timber;  her  soil  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing enormous  crops  of  all  the  tropical  and 
temperate  products,  and  there  are  limitless 
plains  and  prairies,  where  tremendous  numbers 
of  horses  and  cattle  are  raised.  Although  not 
a  manufacturing  country,  Mexico  has  numerous 
manufactures,  including  cotton  mills,  hat,  shoe 
and  clothing  factories;  saddlery  and  hardware 
factories;  fan  and  lace  manufactures;  furniture 
and  pottery  factories;  paper  mills,  sugar  mills, 
fiber  mills  and  countless  other  local  industries. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  193 

NICAEAGUA 

^Area. — About  49,200  square  miles  or  about  the 

size  of  New  York  State. 
Chiej  Exports. — Coffee,  gold,  bananas,  hides 

and   skins,   rubber,   woods,    sugar,    cacao, 

cocoanuts,  cotton,  etc. 
Value  of  Exports.— About  $4,000,000. 
Value  of  Imports.— About  $5,000,000. 
Population. — About  600,000. 
Capital. — Managua,  with  a  population  of  about 

35,000. 
Language. — Spanish. 
Currency.— Gold,  '^ Cordoba''  equal  to  $1.00  U. 

S.  silver;  ''Peso''  of  100  centavos,  equal 

to  $0.40  U.  S. 
Weights  and  Measures. — ^Metric  as  standard, 

but  old  Spanish  system  in  use. 

Physical  Characters 

The  most  striking  character  of  Nicaragua's 
topography  is  the  great  depression  which  ex- 
tends across  the  continent,  the  altitude  of  the 


194  GETTING  TOGETHER 

divide    at    its    lowest    point    being   less    than 
Panama.     The  bulk  of  the  northern  and  cen- 
tral portion  of  the  country  is  hilly,  with  low 
mountains,    which    are    continuations    of    the 
Cordilleras  of  Honduras  and  which,  in  the  west- 
ern part,  attain  an  altitude  of  7000  feet,  but 
decline  in  a  series  of  terraces  to  the  east,  and 
reach  the   sea  at  Monkey  Point.     South  and 
west  the  mountains   decrease  to  a  height  of 
about  700  feet  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Nica- 
ragua, while  on  the  Pacific  coast  is  a  lofty  vol- 
canic range.     Many  of  the  peaks  are  volcanic 
cones,  several  of  which  are  active.     The  most 
notable  volcanoes  are  Cosiguina,  which  in  1835 
erupted  with  a  terrific  explosion  heard  in  Bo- 
livia,   more   than   a   thousand   miles    distant; 
Viejo,     Telicia,     Momotombo,     Momotombito, 
Mombacho,  and  Ometepe  and  Madera,  the  last 
two  being  situated  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Nica- 
ragua.   Along  the  Caribbean  coast  are  alluvial 
plains  adapted  to  sugar  cane  and  banana  culti- 
vation, and  there  are  numerous  large  rivers,  the 
most  important  being  the  Bluefields,  navigable 
for  ocean  steamers  for  60  miles;  the  Wanks, 
navigable  for  240  miles ;  the  Eio  Grande,  etc. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  195 

Climate 

The  climate  of  Nicaragua  is,  as  a  rule,  pleas- 
ant and  healthful,  except  in  the  swampy  coastal 
districts.  On  the  Atlantic  slopes  and  the  hot 
lands  the  summer  begins  in  January  and  ends 
in  May,  but  it  rains  more  or  less  heavily 
throughout  the  year.  There  is  also  a  drier  sea- 
son in  August  and  again  in  October.  On  the 
Pacific  side  and  in  the  lake  region  the  rainiest 
season  is  from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle 
of  November,  with  a  short  dry  spell  in  August. 
The  rainfall  is  as  high  as  297  inches  annually 
at  San  Juan  del  Norte;  97  inches  at  Rivas,  and 
96  inches  at  Metagalpa,  in  the  mountains.  At 
San  Juan  del  Norte  the  average  temperature  for 
the  year  is  77°  F. 

Government 

Republican.  Although  Nicaragua  has  had  a 
stormy  political  history,  yet  it  can  boast  of 
being  the  only  country  in  America  which  en- 
joyed an  uninterrupted  peace  for  the  thirty- 
four  years  from  1859  to  1893. 


196  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Teansportation,  Etc. 

There  is  but  one  railway  of  importance  in 
Nicaragua,  the  National  Railway,  which,  with 
its  branches,  totals  about  200  miles.  The  road 
starts  at  Corinto  on  the  Pacific,  runs  northwest- 
erly for  12  miles  to  Cinandega,  and  thence 
southeasterly  to  Leon,  Managua,  Granada  and 
Diriamba.  Most  of  its  distance  is  through 
stock  raising  and  agricultural  districts,  but 
about  20  miles  of  the  southeastern  section  runs 
through  the  rich  coffee  district  of  the  moun- 
tains. Regular  steamers  ply  on  the  rivers  and 
on  Lake  Nicaragua. 

Resources  and  Industries 

Nicaragua  is  rich  in  resources,  but  her  wealth 
has  been  little  developed.  There  are  immense 
forests  full  of  valuable  woods,  including  ma- 
hogany, cedar,  rubber,  etc.  There  are  rich  de- 
posits of  gold,  silver  and  other  minerals;  there 
are  large  areas  suitable  for  stock  raising  and 
the  agricultural  possibilities  are  very  great. 
Bananas  are   grown  very  extensively  on  the 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  197 

Caribbean  coast,  cacao  and  coffee  are  important 
crops;  sugar,  coffee,  tobacco,  cochineal  and  in- 
digo do  well ;  corn  and  rice  are  grown  exten- 
sively for  local  use  and  the  soil  is  admirably 
adapted  to  citrus  fruit  cultivation. 

The  manufacturing  industries  are  limited 
mainly  to  the  production  of  goods  for  local  use. 
There  are  tanneries,  hat,  hammock  and  rope 
factories;  boot,  shoe,  furniture,  tile,  soap,  cigar, 
match  and  other  small  factories,  and  one  textile 
factory. 


PANAMA 

Area.— About  32,380  square  miles.  About  four 
times  the  size  of  Belgium  or  twice  the  size 
of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  com- 
bined. 

Chief  Exports.— AgTicultural  products,  animal 
products,  minerals. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahoni  $5,000,000. 
Value  of  Imports.— Ahont  $10,000,000. 
Population. — About  500,000. 


198  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Capital. — Panama  with  about  65,000  inhabit- 
ants. 

Language. — Spanish,  but  English  generally 
spoken  in  the  large  cities. 

Currency, — Gold  ''Balboa''  equal  to  $1.00  U.  S. 
Silver  ' '  Peso ' '  equal  to  $0.50  U.  S.  United 
States  currency  in  circulation  at  par  value 
and  with  fractional  coins  based  on  the  gold 
Balboa. 

Weights  and  Measures. — -Metric  standard,  but 
United  States  weights  and  measures  used. 

Physical  Chakacters 

Physically  the  Eepublic  of  Panama  consists 
of  a  more  or  less  broken  mountain  chain  with 
numerous  foothills  extending  in  places  to  the 
coasts  and  with  level  plateaus  and  plains  near 
the  coasts,  especially  in  the  Darien  and  Chiri- 
qui  districts.  The  mountains  in  the  north,  near 
the  Costa  Rican  boundary,  reach  an  altitude  of 
over  7000  feet,  while  at  the  Canal  they  decrease 
until  but  a  few  hundred  feet  in  height,  the 
lowest  point  on  the  continent  except  the  pro- 
posed canal  route  across  Nicaragua. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  199 

Climate 

The  climate  is  variable,  but  in  most  places  is 
pleasant  and  healthful.  On  the  coasts  it  is  moist 
and  warm,  but  on  the  Caribbean  it  is  always 
tempered  by  the  Trade  Winds.  The  coastal 
temperature  varies  from  78.80°  F.  to  82.40°  F., 
while  in  the  elevated  districts  the  average  is 
64.40°  F.  There  are  well  defined  wet  and  dry 
seasons,  the  hottest  and  rainiest  months  being 
from  the  end  of  April  until  the  middle  of  Jan- 
uary, while  the  coolest  months  are  the  driest. 
Although  the  rainy  season  is  prolonged,  yet  it 
does  not  rain  continuously,  and  there  are  often 
ten  or  twelve  successive  rainless  days  in  the 
midst  of  the  rainy  season. 

Government 
Republican. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

There  is  but  one  important  railway  in 
Panama,  the  Panama  Railway,  which  runs  from 
Colon   on   the   Caribbean   to   Panama   on  the 


200  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Pacific,  a  distance  of  48  miles,  and  wliicli  is 
owned  and  operated  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. The  United  Fruit  Co.  owns  and  oper- 
ates a  banana  road  of  144  miles  in  Bocas  del 
Toro,  while  the  David-Boquete  railway  is  32 
miles  in  length.  The  total  mileage  of  railways 
in  Panama  amounts  to  about  200  miles.  Tele- 
graph and  telephone  lines  connect  all  places  of 
importance;  there  are  various  steamer  and 
launch  lines  connecting  coastal  and  river  ports 
and  several  of  the  rivers  are  navigable  for  small 
boats  for  considerable  distances. 

Eesources  and  Industries 

Panama  has  great  natural  resources,  al- 
though largely  undeveloped.  Her  greatest  rev- 
enue is  derived  from  commerce  and  the  Canal, 
but  there  are  immense  quantities  of  bananas 
shipped  from  Bocas  del  Toro;  there  are  exten- 
sive cocoanut  plantations  on  the  Caribbean 
coast,  and  ivory  nuts,  chicle  and  woods  form  an 
important  part  of  the  exports.  The  forests  are 
very  extensive  and  contain  many  valuable 
products,  such  as  cocobolo,  fustic,  rubber,  cedar, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  201 

mahogany,  etc.  There  are  large  areas  of  mag- 
nificent cattle  lands;  the  soil  is  extremely  fer- 
tile, and  would  produce  tremendous  crops  of 
both  tropical  and  temperate  vegetables  and 
fruits;  the  pearl  fishing  industry  is  a  source  of 
great  possible  wealth  and  the  mineral  resources 
are  very  rich.  Much  of  the  interior,  and  es- 
pecially the  mountains,  is  unknown  and  unex- 
plored. Among  the  minerals  which  are  known 
to  occur  are  iron,  manganese,  copper,  tin,  gold, 
silver,  platinum,  emeralds,  petroleum,  kaolin, 
cinnabar,  etc. 


PAEAGUAY 

^^ea.— 196,000  square  miles.  About  four  times 
the  size  of  Indiana  or  nearly  the  size  of 
Spain. 

Chief  Exports. — Fruits,  Yerba-mate  or  Para- 
guay tea,  beef  and  hides,  woods,  tobacco, 
etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $8,624,269. 

Value  of  Imports. — About  $2,333,711. 


202  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Population. — About  800,000. 
Capital. — Asuncion,     with     about    90,000     in- 
habitants. 

Language. — Spanish.  Gurani  Indian  used 
largely  among  the  common  people. 

Currency. — Nonconvertible  paper,  the  basis  of 
which  is  the  Argentine  gold  peso  equal  to 
about  $0,965  U.  S.  The  paper  peso  is 
worth  from  one-eighth  to  one-fifteenth  of 
a  gold  peso.  Small  coins  and  Argentine 
currency  in  circulation. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  system  com- 
pulsory. 

Physical  Chakacters 

Paraguay,  which  is  one  of  the  two  inland 
countries  of  South  America,  has  no  coasts,  but 
is  reached  by  the  Paraguay  River,  the  capital, 
Asuncion,  being  nearly  one  thousand  miles  from 
the  sea.  There  are  several  mountain  ranges, 
while  the  Gran  Chaco  forms  an  immense  plain 
suitable  for  both  pasturage  and  agriculture. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  203 

Climate 

The  climate  is  largely  subtropical,  the  north- 
ern portion  of  the  Republic  being  in  the  tropics, 
while  the  rest  of  the  country  lies  in  the  south 
temperate  zone.  Owing  to  its  situation  the  tem- 
perature is  generally  high  during  the  day,  while 
the  nights  are  cool. 

Government 

Eepublican,  with  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial  authority.  The  Presidents  are  elected 
for  terms  of  four  years. 

Akmy  and  Navy 

The  army  consists  of  2600  men  and  officers, 
but  there  is  also  a  National  Guard,  all  citizens 
being  liable  to  military  service  between  their 
twentieth  and  thirty-fifth  years. 

The  navy  consists  of  a  small  dispatch  boat 
and  two  transports. 


^04  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Education 

Education  free  and  compulsory.  About  800 
public  schools  with  an  attendance  of  about 
50,000.  At  Asuncion  is  a  national  college  with 
about  500  students.  The  Government  also  main- 
tains about  50  scholars  in  Europe  and  America 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  them  a  higher  tech- 
nical education. 

Transpoktation,  Etc. 

The  only  railway  is  the  Paraguay  Central, 
with  a  total  mileage  of  about  232  miles,  but 
making  through  rail  connection  between 
Asuncion  and  Buenos  Aires,  thus  shortening 
the  route,  which  by  river  requires  five  days,  to 
two  days.  Transportation  by  river  is  impor- 
tant, the  Parana  being  navigable  for  vessels  of 
twelve  feet  draft  to  Corrientes,  a  distance  of 
676  miles,  and  for  small  vessels  for  600  miles 
further.  The  Paraguay  is  navigable  for  twelve- 
foot  draft  vessels  to  Villa  Conception  and  for 
smaller  vessels  for  almost  its  entire  length,  a 
distance  of  about  1800  miles. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  205 

E/ESOURCES  AND  INDUSTRIES 

Paraguay's  resources  are  mainly  agricultu- 
ral, although  iron,  sulphur  and  other  minerals 
occur.  The  forests  contain  many  valuable  tim- 
bers, dye  and  cabinet  woods  and  forest  prod- 
ucts, while  there  are  great  opportunities  for 
cattle  raising  and  agricultural  development, 
especially  in  cotton. 

PERU  . 

Ari^a. — About  679,600  square  miles.  Would 
cover  all  the  Atlantic  States  from  Maine 
to  Georgia.  Equal  to  the  area  of  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon,  Washington,  Nevada,  Ari- 
zona, Utah,  and  Idaho  combined.  About 
the  size  of  France,  Germany,  Spain,  Portu- 
gal and  Ireland  combined. 

Chief  Exports. — Cotton,  copper,  and  other  min- 
erals, gums,  petroleum,  sugar,  wool,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $68,638,128  (1915). 
Far  greater  to-day,  owing  to  increase  in 
value  and  demand  of  metals. 


^06  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $15,044,347  (1915). 

Population, — About  4,500,000  of  which  about 
50%  are  Indians  and  only  about  15% 
white. 

Capital. — ^Lima,  with  a  population  of  about 
150,000. 

Language. — Spanish ;  Queehua  Indian  in  use  in 
many  districts. 

Currency. — *^ Libra''  or  Peruvian  pound  equal 
to  the  pound  sterling  or  about  $4.86  U.  S. 
The  Libra  is  10  Soles  of  100  centavos. 

Weights  and  Measures, — Metric  as  standard, 
but  many  old  Spanish  measures  in  use. 


Physical  Chakacteks 

The  character  of  Peru  is  varied,  the  coastal 
region,  which  extends  for  20  to  80  miles  in- 
land, being  rugged  and  hilly  and  bare  of  vege- 
tation owing  to  the  fact  that  it  never  rains  in 
this  zone.  There  are,  however,  a  few  sugar  and 
cotton  plantations  supplied  with  irrigation 
systems.    The  inter- Andean  or  *^Puna''  region 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  207 

comprises  the  western  slopes  of  the  Andes  and 
the  eastern  slopes  of  the  coastal  chain.  This 
plateau  or  Puna,  which  is  from  3000  to  13,000 
feet  above  the  sea,  is  cold  at  night,  averaging 
20°  F.  during  the  winter,  but  is  warm  during 
the  day  and  there  is  an  abundant  rainfall  from 
November  to  April.  During  the  winter  all 
moisture  disappears  and  the  country  becomes 
a  gray  savannah.  The  Amazonian  or  Montana 
zone  is  the  largest  and  most  important  of  the 
three  and  can  be  subdivided  into  two  sections: 
the  mountainous  and  the  eastern  slopes  which 
extend  to  a  great  plain.  The  upper  regions 
are  covered  with  everlasting  snows,  while  the 
lower  portions  are  watered  by  great  rivers 
bordered  by  vast  forests  which  are  largely  un- 
known and  unexplored. 

Climate 

Aside  from  its  mountainous  districts  Peru 
possesses  a  temperate  climate  throughout  the 
year  and  while  situated  near  the  equator  there 
are  no  tropical  conditions,  except  on  the  eastern 
slopes  of  the  country. 


208  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Government 
Eepublican. 

Teanspobtation,  Etc. 

There  are  about  2000  miles  of  railway  in 
Peru  and  the  country  can  boast  of  the  two  most 
wonderful  and  scenic  railways  in  the  world. 
The  Central,  which  pierces  the  Andes  at  15,865 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  the  Southern,  which 
traverses  the  most  historic  region  of  South 
America  and  the  Lake  Titicaca  district  about 
three  miles  above  sea  level. 

Peru's  waterways  are  also  important,  with 
an  aggregate  of  about  4000  miles  navigable  for 
vessels  of  from  8  to  20  ft.  draft.  Iquitos,  on 
the  upper  Amazon,  can  be  reached  by  direct 
steamships  from  New  York  by  way  of  Brazil. 
Other  steamers  maintain  a  regular  service  on 
the  Amazon,  or  as  it  is  known  in  Peru,  the 
Maraiion,  as  far  as  Mayo  only  325  miles  from 
Lima. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  ^09 

Resources  and  Industries 

Although  Peru  exports  large  quantities  of 
agricultural  products  its  greatest  wealth  is  its 
mineral  deposits.  Practically  all  known  metals 
occur  and  gold,  silver,  lead,  antimony,  bismuth, 
sulphur,  zinc,  mercury,  iron,  coal,  petroleum, 
borax,  tungsten,  manganese,  vanadium  and 
copper  are  worked,  the  Peruvian  copper  de- 
posits being  probably  the  most  extensive  in  the 
world. 


SALVADOR 

Area. — About  7225  square  miles,  or  about  the 
size  of  New  Jersey. 

Chief  Exports. — Coffee,  gold,  sugar,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— About  $10,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $4,000,000. 

Population.— Ahout  1,700,000. 

Capital. — San  Salvador,  with  about  60,000  in- 
habitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 


210  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Currency. — Silver  Peso  (equal  to  $0.44  U.  S.) 
of  100  centavos. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric,  standard,  but 
old  Spanish  much  in  use. 

Physical  Chaeacteks 

Like  the  other  Central  American  republics 
Salvador  is  low  and  fairly  level  along  its  coast 
and  is  broken  and  traversed  with  high  moun- 
tains in  the  interior. 

Climate 

Hot  and  tropical  near  the  coasts,  but  tem- 
perate, healthful  and  delightful  in  the  interior. 

GOVEKNMENT 

Republican. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

There  is  a  railway  connecting  the  port  of 
Acajutla  with  San  Salvador  65  miles  distant 


\ 


JVITH  LATIN  AMERICA  211 

and  with  a  branch,  line  25  miles  long  extending 
to  Santa  Anna.  The  capital  is  also  connected 
with  Santa  Tecla  by  a  road  9  miles  in  length. 
Work  is  also  being  pushed  on  a  line  to  con- 
nect Salvador  with  Guatemala  and  which  will 
ultimately  furnish  through  transportation  from 
Mexico  and  the  Atlantic  coast. 


Eesoukces  and  Industries 

Salvador,  although  so  small,  is  rich  in 
natural  resources  which  have  been  greatly 
neglected.  There  are  forests  of  valuable  tim- 
bers, rich  agricultural  lands  and  valuable 
mineral  deposits. 


UEUGUAY 

Area. — About  72,210  square  miles  or  larger 
than  New  York  and  West  Virginia  com- 
biaed.  Larger  than  North  Dakota  and 
twice  the  size  of  Portgual.  Smallest  of 
South  American  republics. 


212  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Chief  Exports. — Agricultural  and  animal  prod- 
ucts, beef,  hides,  wool,  grains,  etc. 

Value  of  Exports.— Ahout  $76,000,000. 

Value  of  Imports.— Ahout  $37,000,000. 

Population. — About  1,400,000. 

Capital. — Montevideo  with  400,000  inhabitants. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Currency/. — Peso  of  100  centissimos  equal  to 
about  $1,034  U.  S.  There  is  no  coinage  of 
gold;  and  foreign  coins  circulate  at  face 
values. 

Weights  and  Measures. — Metric  system  ob- 
ligatory. 

Physical  Characters 

Almost  the  entire  surface  of  Uruguay  consists 
of  undulating  plains  broken  in  the  north  by 
low  mountain  ranges  separated  by  wide  luxuri- 
ant valleys. 

Climate 

The  climate  is  delightful,  temperate  and 
healthful.    Average  temperature  for  the  entire 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  213 

year  about  62.5°  F.  Mean  temperature  for 
summer  72.2°  F. ;  for  winter  55°  F.  Average 
annual  rainfall  37.19  inches.  Tropical  vegeta- 
tion is  found  in  the  northern  provinces. 


GOVEKNMENT 

The  Constitution  of  Uruguay  dates  from 
July  18th,  1830  and  provides  for  a  republican 
government  under  a  President  elected  for  a 
term  of  four  years  assisted  by  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives. 

Akmy  and  Navy 

The  army  numbers  7500  men  and  600  officers. 
The  National  Guard  can  muster  100,000  men. 
The  navy  consists  of  12  ships,  60  officers  and 
600  men  (1916). 

Education 

Primary  education  is  free  and  compulsory. 
The  Republic  has  1059  public  schools  with  an 
attendance  of  about  100,000  pupils.    There  are 


214  GETTING  TOGETHER 

also  secondary  and  preparatory  schools  for 
advanced  instruction.  Moreover,  there  are 
normal  schools,  schools  of  arts  and  crafts,  a 
military  college,  a  fine  university,  etc.  The 
Eepublic  expends  about  $5,000,000  annually 
for  educational  purposes. 

Transportation,  Etc. 

There  is  a  total  of  about  1580  miles  of  rail- 
ways in  Uruguay  and  over  100  miles  addi- 
tional are  in  process  of  construction,  or  are 
being  surveyed.  The  extensive  river  system  of 
the  country  also  provides  an  important  source 
of  transportation  for  there  are  over  700  miles 
of  navigable  waterways  in  the  Republic,  the 
most  important  being  the  La  Plata  and  Uru- 
guay which  together  furnish  over  500  miles. 
On  the  Uruguay  there  are  ten  ports  open  to 
interoceanic  trade.  There  are  regular  steamer 
lines  on  Lake  Merim,  on  the  Brazilian  border. 
There  are  also  over  2240  miles  of  national  and 
over  3000  miles  of  state  highways  most  of 
which  are  adapted  to  motor  traffic.  Telegraph 
and  telephone   systems   connect   all   principal 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  215 

towns  and  there  is  a  large  wireless  station  at 
Montevideo  with  a  range  of  621  miles. 

Resoukces  and  Industries 

Unignay  is  primarily  a  cattle  and  agricul- 
tural country  and  its  chief  industry  is  live  stock 
raising.  Among  the  agricultural  products  the 
first  is  wheat,  but  immense  amounts  of  corn, 
barley,  oats,  linseed,  bird  seed,  tobacco,  cotton, 
etc.,  are  raised.  The  animal  wealth  is  esti- 
mated at,  cattle,  8,200,000;  sheep,  27,000,000; 
hogs,  600,000.  The  forests  are  also  rich  in  valu- 
able woods  and  there  are  very  rich  and  valu- 
able mineral  deposits  which  are  undeveloped. 
Coal,  gold,  petroleum  and  precious  stones  be- 
ing among  the  known  minerals. 

The  manufacturing  industries  are  largely  in 
connection  with  the  live  stock  industry,  but 
there  are  several  flour  mills,  boot  and  shoe 
factories,  brick,  tile,  cement  and  coke  works  and 
large  glass  and  bottle  factories.  Several 
woolen  mills  are  in  operation. 


216  GETTING  TOGETHER 

VENEZUELA 

Area. — About  393,976  square  miles,  or  about 
twice  the  size  of  Texas  with  the  addition 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Larger  than 
Germany,  Great  Britain,  Portugal,  Den- 
mark and  Holland  combined. 

Chief  Exports. — Coffee,  cacao,  cattle  and  hides, 
gold,  asphalt,  sugar,  balata,  rubber,  chicle, 
lumber,  tobacco,  cocoanuts,  pearls,  tonka 
beans,  cotton,  salt,  divi-divi,  copper,  animal 
skins. 

Value  of  Exports.-^(1915)  $23,404,427.  The 
value  of  the  leading  exports  being  as  fol- 
lows : 

Coffee    $12,173,780 

Cacao  5,015,440 

Cattle  and  hides 1,701,274 

Gold   1,326,649 

Asphalt    340,702 

Value  of  Imports.— (1915)  $13,470,236. 

Population.— (1915)  About  2,816,484. 

Capital. — Caracas,  with  over  86,750  inhabit- 
ants. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  217 

Language, — Spanish. 

Currency. — Venezuelan  based  on  the  standard 
Bolivar  of  100  centimos  equal  to  $0,193  U.  S. 
The  coins  in  use  are  gold  of  100  Bolivares, 
25  Bolivares  and  20  Bolivares.  Silver  of 
5,  2l^,  2  and  1  Bolivares  and  of  50  and  20 
centimos.  There  are  also  nickel  coins  of 
121/^  and  5  centimos,  as  well  as  older  cop- 
per coins  of  local  value.  There  is  also  a 
distinction  between  the  **peso"  of  four 
Bolivares  and  the  **peso  fuerte*'  or 
**fuerte"  of  five  Bolivares.  The  **cent- 
tavo'"  is  supposed  to  be  Viooth,  of  a  fuerte, 
or  practically  one  cent  U.  S.  The  **reaP' 
is  a  term  commonly  used  and  is  equal  to 
ten  centavos. 

WeigJits  and  Measures. — ^Legally  metric,  but 
the  Spanish  ^^Vara''  (33.38  inches)  and 
^^Arroba"  (25.402  lbs.)  are  in  common  use. 

Physical.  Characters 

Venzuela  consists  of  three  distinct  zones :  the 
plains  and  river  valleys  or  llanos;  the  moun- 


S18  GETTING  TOGETHER 

tains,  consisting  of  three  distinct  ranges  and 
the  dry  elevated  table  lands  or  plateaus. 


Climate 

Owing  to  its  physical  characters  the  climate 
of  the  Republic  is  very  varied  and  any  climate 
from  the  torrid  to  the  temperate  may  be  found 
by  ascending  from  the  coasts  to  the  interior. 
On  the  coast,  the  climate  is  hot  and  in  places 
unhealthf ul ;  but  in  the  interior,  and  often  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  sea,  in  a  direct  line,  the 
climate  is  that  of  perpetual  spring  and  is  very 
healthful.  The  average  temperature  on  the 
Caribbean  coast  ranges  from  79°  F.  to  89°  F. 
Average  temperature  of  Caracas  is  72°  F.  to 
80°  F.  Average  temperature  of  Merida  is  54° 
F.  to  64°  F.  Rainfall  in  mountains  often  ex- 
cessive. Alternate  wet  and  dry  seasons  on  the 
plains. 

Government 

The  constitution  now  in  force  was  adopted 
June  13th,  1914,  and  provides  for  the  federal, 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  219 

representative,  republican  form  of  government 
with  the  various  states  entirely  autonomous  in 
their  internal  government  with  certain  limited 
powers  vested  in  the  Federal  Government. 

Transportation 

The  total  railway  mileage  is  about  535  miles 
divided  between  twelve  lines,  the  most  note- 
worthy being  the  railway  from  La  Guayra  to 
Caracas,  a  distance  of  but  8  miles  in  a  direct 
line.  The  road  is  22  miles  in  length  and 
climbs  an  almost  perpendicular  mountainside 
8000  feet  high.  The  telephone  system  of  the 
Kepublic  totals  13,000  miles  and  there  are  about 
6000  miles  of  telegraph  lines.  There  are  at 
least  70  navigable  rivers  in  Venezuela  with  a 
total  navigable  length  of  6000  miles.  The 
largest  and  most  important  is  the  Orinoco 
which,  with  its  tributaries,  provides  about  4000 
miles  of  navigable  waterways.  Lake  Mara- 
caibo  covers  an  area  of  over  8000  square  miles 
and  is  navigable  for  ocean  going  vessels. 


220  GETTING  TOGETHER 

Education 

There  are  about  1500  elementary  schools  in 
Venezuela  with  an  attendance  of  about  50,000 
pupils;  102  secondary  schools,  58  for  boys  and 
38  for  girls,  besides  those  admitting  both  sexes ; 
a  normal  school  for  females  and  one  for  males 
in  Caracas  and  there  are  also  two  schools  for 
the  practical  education  of  each  sex.  There  are 
34  national  schools  of  higher  instruction  and 
Caracas  and  Merida  each  has  universities, 
while  fine  arts,  engineering,  arts  and  crafts, 
as  well  as  military  and  naval  science,  are 
taught  in  special  organizations.  There  are  also 
schools  of  commerce,  of  political  science,  of 
mathematics  and  sciences  and  an  institute  of 
modern  languages. 

Eesoukces,  Industries,  Etc. 

Venezuela  is  very  rich  in  natural  resources. 
There  are  vast  forests  of  valuable  dye,  cabinet 
and  timber  woods  and  among  the  notable  forest 
products  are  fustic,  divi-divi,  indigo,  rubber, 
balata,  tonka  beans,  vanilla,  sarsaparilla,  etc. 


WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  221 

All  the  tropical  agricultural  products  grow  to 
perfection  and  on  the  highlands  northern  fruits 
and  vegetables  are  raised.  The  llanos  provide 
pasturage  for  immense  herds  of  cattle  and 
horses  and  the  mineral  riches  are  vast  and 
largely  undeveloped.  -  Iron,  copper,  sulphur, 
bauxite,  kaolin,  silver,  mercury,  gold  and  coal 
occur;  there  are  enormous  deposits  of  asphalt; 
petroleum  is  worked,  and  on  the  coasts,  and 
especially  the  Island  of  Margarita,  there  are 
valuable  pearl  fisheries  which  yield  about 
$1,000,000  in  pearls  and  shells.  Much  of  the 
interior,  especially  along  the  Guiana,  Brazilian 
and  Colombian  borders,  is  still  unexplored. 

The  industries  of  Venezuela  consist  prin- 
cipally of  sawmills,  mines,  wood-working 
plants,  paper  mills,  breweries,  cotton  mills, 
foundries,  sugar  mills,  cigar  and  cigarette  fac- 
tories, soap,  match  and  shoe  factories,  tan- 
neries, etc. 


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THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 

STAMPED  BELOW  .^i 

AN  INITIAL  PINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  REALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $,.oo  ON  THE  SEVENTH  dIy 
OVERDUE.  ^tvcNTM     DAY 


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